Duel School!
by DragonsFairy24
Summary: The story of Yugi and Lilly is over, but that doesn't mean that new heroes aren't around the corner. Can Jaden and Rose live up to their idols? Or will they fall short? With how head strong these two are, there is no way they aren't going down without a fight!
1. Meeting My Idol!

Episode(s): None

"I'm so excited!" yelled a 15 year old girl. She had long light purple hair that went down past her butt and deep blue eyes like the ocean. She had on a black skirt that stopped mid-thigh, a white blouse with a dark purple jacket over. She had on black boots that stopped just before her knee. She had a duel disk on and her deck in a pack on her right leg.

Her body type was athletic. She had a small tummy, but she didn't care much about it. She wasn't bulky like a body builder, but you can tell that she worked out. Her butt was big and round while her breast were double D's, though she never really flaunted them.

The girl was currently in a game shop, looking at duel monster cards.

"Well someone is happy," said an old man as he got the purchases together for the girl after she had picked the cards she wanted.

"Yeah! I'm going to try out for Duel Academy tomorrow!" said the girl.

"That's very good! You know, my grandson and his fiancé happen to be very good duelist!" said the old man with a fond smile.

"Really!" said the girl excitedly. "I hope to be as good as the Queen of Games, Lilly!"

"Ho-ho! You must really look up to her."

"I do! I hope to meet her one day!" said the girl with such happiness.

"Well you never know, she might be closer than you think," said the old man mysteriously as he glanced outside the door. He gave the girl her purchases.

"Thank you, sir! I hope you have a good day!" said the girl as she walked toward the exit.

"Good luck!" said the old man with a smile.

"Thanks!" said the girl as she opened the door and walked out, only to walk into someone else and fall over.

"Are you okay?" asked the voice of a women.

"Yes! I'm so sorry!" said the girl as she stood up and bowed to the women. She then looked up to meet the women's eyes.

"Its fine," said the women with a smile.

"You-you-you're the Queen of Games!" said the girl.

"That's me!" Lilly said with a laugh as she looked at the girl and noticed her duel disk. "Oh, you're a duelist? Are you going to attend the academy?"

"Yes miss! My name is Rose! I will try out tomorrow," said the girl, now named Rose.

"That's good!" said Lilly with a smile. "Well, I should be going, I have to meet up with my fiancé to pick our cake!"

"Congratulations!" said Rose with a smile. **'I can't believe I'm talking to my idol!'**

"Thanks!" said Lilly as she was about to leave. She then stopped and pulled something out of her jacket pocket. "Here. Have this."

"Wh-what?" said Rose as she took the item from Lilly. It was a beautiful purple bracelet that had beautiful rose designs on it.

"It matches your name and hair color! It's part of my new jewelry collection!" said Lilly with a bright smile.

"Th-Thank you!" said Rose as she took the bracelet and put it on her left wrist. **'My idol just gave me the coolest present ever!'**

"Sure thing," said Lilly as she turned to walk off. She lifted her hand in the air and waved. "Bye! I know you can make it! Don't let me down!"

"B-bye! I won't!" said Rose as she watched Lilly leave. Rose smiled to herself and looked at her bracelet. "Today has been such a good day! I can't wait for tomorrow!"

Rose then turned and walked toward her home, a big smile on her face and determination in her eyes.


	2. The One Who Inherits the Game

Episode(s): 1

"Alright," said Rose as she put on her jacket and grabbed her duel disk. She then ran out of her room and down the stairs.

"Bye Miss Rose," said a maid as Rose ran out the door.

"Would you like me to drive you?" asked the butler.

"No but thank you! Bye!" yelled Rose as she ran to the gate and left toward were the tryouts were.

"This is going to be such a good day!" yelled Rose.

 _ **~ After 30 Minutes of running~**_

"This is it," said Rose as she stopped to compose herself. She walked up to the sign in desk.

"Hello miss! Are you here for the tryouts?" asked a woman at the desk.

"Yes! My name is Rose," said Rose to the women with a smile.

"Last name please," asked the women.

"Heartfilia," said Rose with a smile.

"Please go to the third arena and wait for your turn," said the women with a smile after she found the information she needed.

"Alright! Thanks!" said Rose with a smile.

Rose then walked into the building and started to look around for arena three. After a few minutes of wondering around, she found the area and walked up to the attendant there.

"Hello, my name is Rose and I'm here to take my entrance exam," said Rose with a smile.

"Right this way!" said the man.

"Right," said Rose as she walked up to the arena.

"Hello young lady," said a blond professor who looked kind of creepy.

"Hello!" said Rose with a smile. **'Are they a male or female? Are the transitioning?'**

"And who might you be?!" said the professor as he and the testing proctor walked up to her.

"My name is Rose."

"Well then Rose, let's duel!"

"Wait!" yelled a voice casing everyone to look at the source. It was a male student wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform. He had dark Blue hair and eyes and was quite tall.

"Zane, what's wrong?" asked the professor.

"Professor Crowler, isn't it true that once a prospective student places first in a high-end duel tournament, they get automatic entrance into the academy?" asked the man named Zane as he looked at Rose.

"Well, yes," said the now named Professor Crowler.

"That girl is Rose Heartfilia, winner of Americas first all women tournament," said Zane.

"Har-Hartfilia?" said Professor Crowler in shock.

"Did he just say Heartfilia?" said someone.

' **I hate it when people talk about me like that. I'm more than just a name. I really hope I find some people who want to be friends with me for me, not because of my name,'** thought Rose.

"Mi-miss Heartfilia, I had no idea!" said Professor Crowler in shock. "Please, due to you winning the tournament you do not need to tryout."

"No," said Rose, shocking everyone

"Wh-what?" asked Crowler in shock.

"I wish to duel for my spot, not be handed it because I previously won a tournament. Just because I won that tournament doesn't mean that I am that good. It just means I was better than my opponents at the time. Please, duel me," said Rose with confidence causing everyone to look at her.

 **'This girl is interesting,'** thought Zane with a smirk.

"Ri-right," said Crowler as he nodded to the proctor.

"Let's duel!" said the two as the two started.

"I'll go first!" said Rose as she drew a card. "I play one card face down and place my Flowered Child in defense mode. I end my turn."

Her monster looked to be a young girl with blond hair and a green eyes with a matching dress with flowers in her hair and a basket filled with flowers.

"Very well then, my turn," said the proctor as he drew a card. "I play Flamed Swordsman and then place one facedown. I end my turn."

"I play my facedown card. Double Destruction. This card allows me to summon another higher-level monster and use both to attack you. I summon my Guardian Rose Knight!" said Rose as a male Knight appeared on the field. He had red armor and a sword in the shape of a rose. "Now attack!"

"I play my trap!" yelled the proctor, only for it not to work. "What's going on?"

"My trap card has a special affect that allows me to activate any other trap card I have in my hand when my opponent plays their trap card. I chose Reflect!

Rose's monster attacked Corwler's monster and then his trap card reflected against him sending Rose's monsters to attack him again. This left Crowler with half of his life points.

 **'She's good,'** thought Zane as he watched.

"I play one card facedown and end my turn," said Rose as she placed a monster card down.

 _ **~Two moves later~**_

"Looks like I win!" said Rose with a smile as the last of the proctor's life points disappeared.

"So, it seems Miss Heartfilia," said Professor Crowler as he walked onto the stage.

"Thank you!" said Rose as she went to walk to the stands **. 'That felt good.'**

"Hey beautiful!" said a voice causing Rose to stop and her left eye to start twitching. She looked to her left to see a boy with dark hair and eyes in an Obelisk Blue uniform smirking at her. "Why don't you sit with the Chazz!"

"No thank you," said Rose as she walked all the way to the top. **'Stupid ass.'**

"That was so cool!" said a voice once she stopped. She turned her head to the left to look at a guy who was wearing a red shirt, black jacket and jeans. His hair reminded her of a Kuriboh.

 **'Kuriboh is so cute,'** thought Rose absentmindedly.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"My name is Jaden Yuki! I hope we get to duel someday!" said the now named Jaden with a bright smile.

"I would like that too," said Rose with a smile. **'He seems so genuine.'**

"Jaden Yuki to exam field four," said a voice over the speaker.

"Go time! Wish me luck guys!" said Jaden, referring to the other two guys he was talked to before Rose showed up.

"Hey, wait," said the one sitting down. He wore an all-white uniform.

"Huh?" said Jaden as he stopped to look at him.

"If I'm the second best, who's first?"

"Yours truly!" said Jaden, pointing at himself. "It's what I'm best at."

"Wow! He's so full of himself. I wonder if he's really that good," said the shorter one with blue hair.

"He's going to need to be. Look who he's dueling," said the one sitting down.

"That guy?" said Rose in annoyance.

"You don't seem to like him much," said the one standing.

"Yeah. He seems like he thinks he's better than everyone else. He's supposed to be a professor. He's supposed to nurture his students, not be an ass to them."

"True," said the one sitting down.

"Oh! By the way, my name is Syrus Truesdale," said the one with light blue hair.

"My name is Rose," said Rose.

"As in Rose Heartfilia? I wanted to watch you duel, but I myself was dueling. I only caught the ending. My name is Bastion Misawa," said the one sitting down.

"Heartfilia?" said Syrus in shock.

"Is it alright if I sit next to you, Bastion?" asked Rose.

"Of course," said Bastion as he moved a little to his right to make room for Rose.

"Let's so how he does," said Rose as she sat down to watch Jaden duel.

 _ **~Duel Starts~**_

"So, son, your name?" asked Crowler.

"Uh, Jaden. Jaden Yuki," said Jaden as he stood straight.

"Well, uh, Jaden Yuki," said Crowler in a mocking voice, "I'm Dr. Vellian Crowler, Department Chair of Techniques here at Duel Academy."

"Wow, a department chair, I had no idea, from how you were dressed, I was thinking you were some weird academy mascot," laughed Jaden with an honest smile.

"Well then, he doesn't know how to hold back," said Rose with a giggle as Crowler got mad.

"It seems not," replied Bastion.

"Lets duel!" said the two.

"Here goes," said Jaden as he drew a card. "Sweet. I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode! I'll also throw down a face down. Alright! Get your game on!"

"Yes," said Crowler as he drew a card. "Alright, for this first move, I think I'll start nice and easy. I choose to play the spell card Confiscation!"

"Okay, so what's it do?"

"What it does is allow me to pay 1,000 life points for the chance to peak at your hand and toss one of your cards into the graveyard!

"Oh, yes, I remember some of these from back when I was a naïve rookie!" said Crowler as the cards appeared before him, "Hmm, now which shall I banish? Monster Reborn to the graveyard! Next, I'll lay two cards facedown on the field. And last, but not least, I'll play Heavy Storm!

"This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field!"

"Whoopsie! Did you forget that you had two trap cards out on the field, yourself?!" asked Jaden.

"Now, now, you mustn't speak out of turn, young scholar!" said Crowler with a chuckle as everything went dark around them.

"What's happening?"

"Nothing's happening. Not yet!" said Crowler as two monster appeared. "But that's about to change!"

"Uh, could somebody tell me what's going on?" asked Syrus.

"The two trap cards that Dr. Crowler had on the field were called Statue of the Wicked," said Rose.

"It's a special trap that creates a vicious token monster when destroyed," said Bastion.

"That's why he played Heavy Storm," concluded Rose as she glared at Crowler. "He's not using a test deck, isn't he?"

"Your right," said Bastion. "He's probably using his own personal deck."

"That's not fair," said Syrus.

"No, it's not," said Rose with narrow eyes. **'What a horrible teacher.'**

"Ready for your next lesson?" asked Crowler with a smug look.

"You bet!" laughed Jaden. "I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!"

"Yes, well, I'm quite an excellent teacher, thank you," said Crowler, accepting the complement. "And now, I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens and summon Ancient Gear Golem!"

Everyone gasped in surprise.

"That's a legendary rare card!" gasped Rose.

"What?" said Syrus in shock.

"She's right," replied Bastion. "He's definitely using his own deck."

"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem!"

"Aw, no way!" smiled Jaden. "I've always wanted to take one on!"

"Either Jaden's Brave or he's nuts!" said Syrus.

"Golem, attack!" laughed Crowler. "Mechanized Melee!"

"Aw, Jaden's monster didn't stand a chance!" said Syrus after the monster was destroyed. "His defense points were way too low! This isn't looking good."

"And it's about to look a lot worse," said Bastion as Rose nodded.

"When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack points and the defending monster's defense points gets dealt to the opponent as damage," said Rose.

"That would mean," said Syrus in shock, "Jaden's life points are gonna take a hit!"

"That looks bad," said Rose as Jaden's life points went down to 2,000.

"Don't feel bad," laughed Crowler, "this is the top dueling school in the country, some people simply aren't cut out for-"

"Boy, I really want to come to this school now," laughed Jaden. "You really know your stuff, teach!

"Ok, I summon Winged Kuriboh, in defense mode!" said Jaden after he drew a card. "And I'll place one card facedown."

"So cute," said Rose with hearts in her eyes causing the other two boys to look at her.

"Really?" chuckled Bastion with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't help that I like cute things," mumbled Rose as she moved her left foot around on the floor.

 **'She's so cute,'** thought Syrus with a blush.

 **'Nice to know she isn't as tuff as rumors make her out to be,'** thought Bastion with a chuckle.

"Now let's proceed," said Crowler as he drew a card, "with the legendary Ancient Gear Golem! Attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee! Check your gear, your life points haven't changed."

"My gear's fine," said Jaden with a smile. "On the turn Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take zero damage."

"Fine, fine, I guess your lame little monster saved you there."

"Hey. Slow down there, teach," said Jaden in anger, "you may have beat him, but that doesn't give you the right to call him lame!"

"Oh, yes, I forget how attached you new duelists get to your monsters. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, you should be, because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh, you set off a trap card, one of my favorites too, Hero Signal! And that brings out my second Elemental Hero: Burstinatrix!

"My turn," continued Jaden as he drew a card. "First off, I'm going to bring back Avian to my hand with the spell card, The Warrior Returning Alive! And now I'm going to summon him to the field!"

"Oh, ok, another amateurish mistake but this is good. This is good," said Crowler condescendingly. "Now, would anyone like to tell me what our little friend did wrong-"

"Yeah, actually, I wasn't done yet," interrupted Jaden. "See, I know my two heroes aren't very powerful by themselves. But, if I can form them together, it's another story! And I have just the card to unite them! Polymerization! Join Avian and Burstinatrix! Fusion Summon! There he is, the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! I hope your Gear Golem is ready for a clash of the titans!"

"He might still be in this," said Rose with a smile.

"So, teach, what do you think?"

"I think you're dueling very well for an amateur. But, next time, try playing a monster that has more attack points than what's already out," said Crowler codependently.

"What's he mean?" asked Syrus.

"He means that Wingman's attack points are no match for his Golem's 3,000, Shame, too, because when the Wingman destroys a monster, that monster's attack points are dealt as damage to its owner," said Bastion.

"Wait, you mean they're deducted right out of his life points?" asked Syrus in shock.

"Yup," said Rose.

"Aw, that would've been a great way for Jaden to turn things around."

"Well, if your friend's as good as he says he is, he might still find a way," said Bastion with a smirk.

"Wow, did we really seem like friends?" asked Syrus causing the other two to look at each other.

 **'Someone doesn't have a lot of friends,'** thought Bastion.

 **'Poor thing,'** thought Rose.

"Alright, young scholar, I don't mean to rush you, but I am a busy man!" said Crowler. "Are you done yet?"

"Of course, I'm not done yet!" said Jaden as he got ready to play a card. "And of course, I know my Wingman had less attack points that your golem! That's why I have this! Skyscraper! GO!"

"Wow," said Rose as she looked on.

"Alright Flame Wingman go show those heroics and attack that Ancient Gear Golem!"

"Fine with me," smirked Crowler, "Bring him on! This silly little Skyscraper field card hasn't lowered my Golem's attack level by one point!"

"You know what, teach, you're right!" smiled Jaden. "This Skyscraper field hasn't lowered your golem's attack points, what it's done is raise my Elemental Hero Wingman's by a towering grand total of 1,000!"

"Wait! Time out!" yelled Crowler.

"GO, Skydive Scorcher!"

Everyone gasped as the attack landed and Crowler's life points went down to zero. "That's game!" said Jaden striking a pose. "So, I guess that means I pass the test, huh teach?

"That was good," said Rose as she watched as everyone clapped and cheered.

"Alright! Yeah Jaden!" yelled Syrus.

"He looks happy," said Bastion as they watched Jaden cheer.

"Today has been a good day," said Rose with a smile, causing the other two to smile as they continue to watch Jaden cheer.


	3. Flame Wingman

Episode(s): 2

"Attention new Duel Academy students, if you look outside your windows, you'll see your new home away from home," said the pilot causing everyone to look outside their windows. "Now, now. I know you are excited, but there is no need to scream or shout. Quite the sight, ehh? Now then, fasten your seatbelts and move your seat back into the upright position. We're going into land. Nest stop, Academy island."

Once the plane landed, the new students started to pile out.

"Alright everyone! Get into two lines, one for girls and one for boys. We need your name and we will give you your uniform," said a man.

"Guess this is where we split up," said Rose as she walked to the girl's line.

"See you later Rose!" said Jaden in excitement.

"Do you ever calm down?" asked Bastion as he walked with the others to the guys line.

 _ **~After Some Time Waiting~**_

"Name?" said the lady in front of Rose.

"Rose Heartfilia," replied Rose.

"Miss Heartfilia, here is your uniform, information about your dorm, and your class schedule along with required text and materials. Congratulations on getting into Obelisk Blue," said the woman as she handed Rose everything.

"Thank you!" said Rose with a smile as she collected her things **. 'Though it isn't that hard since girl automatically get put into Obelisk Blue.'**

She then walked to the girls' bathroom and began to change. She put on a blue skirt that stopped mid-thigh, a white sleeveless jacket with blue trimming that stopped at her waist, she left it unbuttoned, and a light blue belt she hung loosely around her hips. She also put on a black tank-top under her jacket and kept her black boots. What was noticeable about the change was the fact that her chest was more noticeable then before.

"All those who have changed, please go to room 1A," said a voice over the loud speaker.

"Guess I should go there," said Rose as she left the bathroom with everything.

 _ **~In Class 1A~**_

Students continue to file in as they were instructed to stand in line. After the last student walked in, a video started playing. A man appeared on screen with a bright and warm smile.

"Good morning and welcome, my students. I'm Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster here and you are the best and brightest young duelist in the world! Now please, get yourself settled into your assigned dorms. I think you'll find them quite comfortable, depending on how you ranked course," he laughed at the end.

"Uh, Jaden?" asked Syrus as he looked at the sleeping teen.

"Up," said Rose as she smacked Jaden in the back of the head.

"I'm up! I'm up!" yelled Jaden as he held his head.

"You shouldn't be asleep!" yelled Rose as she started to reprimand him.

"Sorry! But I was so excited last night that I didn't sleep," laughed Jaden as he rubbed his head. Rose eyes softened.

"Well, next time, make sure to get some sleep. You need to be awake for your classes," she said with a smile as the three started to walk out of the classroom and into the yard.

"Well, I don't know about you, Sy, but it looks like I'm in the Slifer Red dorm," said Jaden as he looked at device.

"That's cool, same with me," said Syrus.

Jaden looked up about to ask Rose where she was when Bastion walked by.

"Hey, you in Red too?" asked Jaden to Bastion, causing the other boy to stop and look at him.

"Well now, let's see here. Yellow sleeves, yellow buttons. I don't think so," said Bastion with a smirk causing Rose to laugh and the boys to look at her.

"I'm wearing blue, so no," she said answering Jaden's unasked question.

"Oh, I get it. So that's why Sy and I are in red," said Jaden as he looked at himself.

"Please don't tell me that you just figured that out now," said Bastion as he looked at Jaden in disappointment.

"Why am I not surprised?" question Rose as she looked at Jaden with a sweat drop. **'I've barely known him for a day and I can already tell that he normally doesn't think that often.'**

"So, what! Ever think I'm colored blind?" said Jaden in annoyance.

"Well, no actually, I didn't. Are you color blind?" asked Bastion in curiosity, thinking he had offended him. Jaden laughed.

"No, but I could have been. See you around the dorms!"

"I doubt that, your dorm is over there," said Bastion as he pointed in a different direction then where he was going. He then turned to Rose. "I can walk you half way to your dorm since Ra Yellow is before Obelisk Blue."

"Thanks!" said Rose as she and Bastion turned to leave. "Later guys!"

"Bye Rose! Bastion!" yelled Jaden as they separated.

"Jaden must have applied without even really doing any research about the academy," said Rose after they got some distance away from the two.

"I have to agree with you, but I have a feeling that he might be more entertaining than anyone else," replied Bastion with a smirk.

"Agreed," said Rose as the two then started to talk about what they thought life would be like in the academy.

 _ **~A few Minutes Later~**_

"Well, this is my stop," said Bastion as he turned to the Ra Yellow dorms.

"Okay, see you later Bastion!" waved Rose as she continued her walk.

"Later!" replied Bastion as he went inside.

"Now to my dorm," said Rose as she walked with a smile. **'I can't believe it! It's not even my first day and I can tell I've already made three friends!'**

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"So, this is the Obelisk Blue girl's dorm?" question Rose as she looked at the building. "I better find someone to ask where exactly I should go."

"Are you lost?" asked a female voice. Rose turned to see a blond girl wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform.

"Yes! I'm new and I just need to find where my dorm is," said Rose with a smile. The girl smiled back at her.

"I can help you. My name is Alexis Rhodes. You're Rose Heartfilia, right? I saw your duel and thought you were great!"

"Oh? Thanks!" said Rose as she showed Alexis her device with her room number on it.

"Your room is right next to mine. I'll take you to it."

The two girls walked to the dorm, talking all the way.

"So, Professor Crowler is always like that?" asked Rose in shock.

"Yeah," said Alexis with a sigh as the two go to the door. "Well, this is your room!"

"Thanks!"

"Hey! Aren't you Rose Heartfilia?" said a voice. The two girls turned around to see a whole bunch of girls looking at them.

 **'Where did they all come from?'** thought the two girls with a sweat drop.

"Yes," said Rose.

"Are you going to battle Alexis for the title of Queen of Obelisk Blue?" asked one of the girls.

"Uh, no," said Rose as she looked at everyone. "I just got here and want to get a feel for the place before I do anything."

"Cool," said some of the girls.

"Weird," whispered Rose causing Alexis to nod.

"We can always duel later to satisfy them," said Alexis to Rose, though everyone else heard her and started to squeal.

"I think that would be fun," said Rose as she opened the room and started to walk in.

"Do you need help unpacking? I can also help you if you need anything else," said Alexis as she looked into Rose's room to see a lot of luggage.

"That would be nice," said Rose as she let Alexis in.

 _ **~After an Hour~**_

"So that's why they were excited?" asked Rose.

"Yeah. Everyone saw your duel during the American Tournament as well as your duel to get in here," said Alexis as the two girls walked out of the room.

"Interesting," mumbled Rose.

"Anyway, I have to go get Chazz Princeton for the welcome dinner," said Alexis as she started to walk away.

"I'll go with you. Not like I have anything better to do," said Rose as she followed Alexis.

 _ **~Sometime Later~**_

"Where is he?" asked Alexis as the two walked into one of the dueling arenas.

"There are some people over there," said Rose as they walked around the arena.

"This sure is a motley crew," said Alexis as the two girls walked up to the boys, shocking them.

"Rose!" said Syrus with a smile, happy to see one of his new friends. "Who is she with?"

"Hey Rose, Alexis," said the guy who tried to flirt with Rose during the tryouts. "Here to see me mop the flower with my new little friend, Jaden, here? It'll be a short duel, but an entertaining one for sure."

"We're here to remind you of the Obelisk welcome dinner. You're late, Chazz!" said Alexis with annoyance.

"Oh yeah. Come on guys," said Chazz as he and his two lackeys left.

"Sorry if Chazz rubbed you the wrong way. All of us Obelisk are not like that. He's just a jerk. Especially with Slifers," said Alexis with a scowl.

"And a horrible flirt," said Rose with annoyance causing Jaden to back away from here.

 **'I feel like she might hit me again,'** though Jaden in fear.

"It's no big deal!" said Jaden, shocking the others. "Those types don't really bother me at all. Besides! I can beat them in one turn!"

"We're going to have to work on that over confidence," said Syrus in shock.

"No kidding," said Rose with a laugh.

"Okay, two turns! Maybe two and a half," said Jaden, causing the two girls to laugh.

"The Slifer welcome dinner is about to start to," said Alexis.

"Right, we better go Sy!" said Jaden as he started running.

"Hey! Wait up!" yelled Syrus after him. After a few feet, Jaden turned around to look at the two girls.

"Hey! What was your name again?" asked Jaden. "I know Rose."

"Alexis Rhodes, and yours?" asked Alexis with a smile.

"The names Jaden! Alright, see you around! Talk to you later Rose and you look great in your uniform, by the way!" yelled Jaden as he and Syrus left.

"Aren't you going to introduce me!" the two girls heard Syrus yell.

"Silly Jaden," said Rose with a blush, causing Alexis to laugh at her.

"Let's go," said Alexis as she turned back to the dorms.

"Yeah," said Rose as she followed her.

 _ **~During the Welcome Dinner~**_

"This is nice," said Rose as she and Alexis talked to some of the other girls.

"I saw your duel during the American Tournament! You did so good!" said one of the girls.

"Thank you!" said Rose with a smile.

"Your hair is so pretty!" said another.

"Thanks! Can you guys tell me more about the school?" asked Rose as the others agreed and started to tell her all she needed to know about the school.

 _ **~Later That Night~**_

"I have a miss message?" said Rose once she and Alexis were walking back to their rooms. She was looking at her device when she noticed it.

"From who?" asked Alexis as she looked over.

"Syrus," said Rose as she opened it. "It says that Chazz challenged Jaden to a duel."

"Well, we better go check on them," said Alexis. "If they get caught, they'll be in big trouble."

"Yeah," said Rose as the two turned around and walk off toward the main school building.

 _ **~After a Refreshing Walk~**_

"We should have known," said Rose as she and Alexis walked into the arena, shocking everyone.

"Alexis? Rose?" asked Syrus as the two girls walked up to him.

"Chthonian Polymer's a nasty trap," said Alexis as the girls stopped next to Syrus.

"It allows you to take control of an opponent's fusion monster by sacrificing one of your own creatures," finished Rose.

"Oh no! Jaden just summoned a fusion monster!" said Syrus as he turned to watch the battle.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Jaden can win this," said Rose.

"I sacrifice Reborn Zombie to gain control of your Wingman," said Chazz with a smirk.

"Aw, my monster," said Jaden.

"How did Chazz know to play that?" asked Syrus.

"You're so predictable, Jaden," said Chazz arrogantly. "You wouldn't stop talking about that Wingman at the exam, so I'd know you'd use him soon."

"Still, since that Wingman was a special summon, that means I'm allowed to summon another monster during my turn," said Jaden as he looked at his hand. "Alright, I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode. There, all set."

"Yeah, set up to get knocked down," said Chazz after he drew a card. "Rise, Chthonian Soldier. And now, Flame Wingman, attack with Sky-Dive Scorcher. And now thanks to Wingman's super power, your life points take damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points.

"But don't think that I'm done yet Slifer slacker, Chthonian Soldier attack, Windstorm Slash!"

They watched as his life points go down to 2,000.

"Are you starting to know your place here at the Academy yet? Maybe you were somebody back at home, but here in the big leagues, you're nothing but a pathetic little amateur, Slifer slime. I'll end my turn with a facedown card," smirked Chazz. "Go ahead, slacker."

Not long after Jaden started laughing as he played.

"This is too fun!" he said happily.

"What!" yelled Chazz.

"Just what I came for! Man! I mean the trash talking, the action, it's all so great!"

"What the?" said Chazz in shock.

"Why am I not surprised that he's happy about this?" said Rose with a sweat drop, causing the other two to laugh.

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman. Alright Sparkman, attack with Static Shockwave."

This attack brought Chazz life points to 3,600. He was then attacked by a sword, lowering his life points to 1,600.

"Still think it's great slacker?" asked Chazz. "Because when Chthonian Solder is destroyed, you receive the same amount of damage to your life points as I do. Deference is that you hardly have any to spare."

"Jaden," said Rose as she watched them.

"It's just a matter of time, slacker," said Chazz with a laugh. "Your best card's about to be all mine."

"This isn't over yet," said Jaden as he put a card down. "I put down a facedown."

"Play what you like. My next attack will finish off your life points, and that attack's coming right now. Go, Flame Wingman!"

"Not so fast!" yelled Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. "That's was a trap card I just threw!"

"A trap?" asked Chazz.

"It's Mirror Gate!" said Syrus.

"That means that Jaden is still in this duel after all," said Alexis.

"Mirror Gate makes two monsters in a battle switch which side they're on," said Rose with a smile. "That means that Wingman is back on Jaden's side!"

"Yeah! Go Wingman!" said Jaden. Chazz's life points went down to 3,100. "And just like you told me a while ago, don't forget my Wingman's super power. You take damage equal to the attack points of your destroyed monster."

"Alright!" said Syrus in happiness as Jaden flashed them the peace sign. Chazz's like points went down to 1,500.

"Nice moves Jaden," said Alexis with a smile.

"You are a great duelist," said Rose with a smile. Jaden laughed as a result.

"More like lucky moves if ya ask me, you Slifer school scum" said Chazz in anger. "alright, I activate Chthonian Blast. Now, since you destroyed one of my monsters, I can destroy one of yours, and you take damage equal to half of its attack points."

"Flame Wingman," said Jaden as his life points went down to 550.

"Now I activate the trap card, Call of the Haunted. It lets me select one monster card from my graveyard and summon it back to the field in attack mode. Rise, Infernal Warrior! But he won't be staying on the field for long, because I'm going to sacrifice him to summon Mefist The Infernal General."

"Not bad," said Jaden.

"Not bad?" asked Chazz. "You're something else, slacker, you know that? Acting all confident. But your lousy Monsters won't get you out of this jam."

The group continue to watch the duel until Alexis turned in shock.

"Guys! We have company! Campus security!" said Alexis causing the duel to stop.

"If they find us all in here, we will be seriously busted!" said Rose, shocking Syrus and Jaden.

"What!" yelled Syrus in shock.

"Why? I mean, we're all students here," said Jaden with a scared look.

"The rules say no off-hour arena duels. Chazz knows that!" said Alexis accusingly. Chazz blushed and looked away. "But let me guess: He didn't tell you."

"Come on! Let's go," said one of Chazz's lackeys.

"Well, well slacker. Looks like you lucked out this time," said Chazz as he turned away.

"What are you talking about! The match isn't over!' said Jaden.

"Yeah it is. I've seen what I came to see. You're a sorry duelist. You beating Dr. Crowler was just a fluke," said Chazz as he and his group left.

"Jaden!" said Syrus seriously. "We've got to get out of here!"

"Yeah! He's right!" said Alexis.

"Come on Jaden!" said Rose with a glare, scaring Jaden.

"Co-Coming," he said as he followed her.

"She's good," said Syrus.

"Yeah," nodded Alexis as they followed the two.

 _ **~Outside~**_

"You certainly are stubborn," said Alexis as Syrus pushed Jaden.

"Only about my dueling," said Jaden, annoyed with the situation.

"Thanks for showing us the back way out," said Syrus to the girls.

"Sure," said Alexis.

"Sorry that you didn't get to finish your duel with Chazz," said Rose to Jaden.

"It's okay! I know just how it would have ended anyway," said Jaden with a smirk and his eyes close. Rose walked up and stood in front of his face.

"Is that so?" she asked him as he opened his eyes to look at her.

"Yeah. Especially after I drew this!" he said, showing the other his Monster Reborn card and explained how he would have won.

"Hmm," said Rose in shock as she continued to look at him. He stared into her eyes and smiled.

"Well, see you two later!" said Jaden as he started to walk away.

"Wait for me!" yelled Syrus as he ran after Jaden.

 **'This is going to be an interesting year,'** thought Alexis as she watched the two leave. She then looked at Rose. **'I wonder if that is something waiting to happen.'**

"Let's go Alexis," said Rose as she turned away to go back to the dorms.

"Yeah," said Alexis as she followed her **. 'I guess only time will tell.'**


	4. A Duel In Love

Episode(s): 3

"Duel Monster cards can be grouped into normal monster cards, fusion monster cards, ritual monster cards, affect cards, trap cards, and spell cards. Trap cards can be divided into normal traps, counter traps, and continues traps. Spell cards can be separated into normal spells, continues spells, equip spells, quick-play spells, ritual spells, and field spells," said Rose as she stood to answer Dr. Crowler's question.

"Per-fect! Well done Rose! Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from one of my Obelisk Blue," said Crowler with a smile.

"Yes, Dr. Crowler," said Rose in fake happiness. **'I still think you're an asshole.'**

"Hmm. Now who should we question next?" asked Crowler as he looked around. His eyes focused on Syrus. "You! Syrus Truesdale!

"Huh?" said Syrus as he stood up.

"Explain to the class what a Field Spell is, please," said Crowler with a not so kind smile.

"Um," started Syrus as he started to get nervous and mess up what he was trying to say.

"Even pre-duelers know the answer to this you Slifer Slacker!" yelled a random Obelisk Blue boy making the other Obelisk Blues laugh except for Rose and Alexis.

"Relax Sy, you totally got this," said Jaden in a reassuring voice.

"I think not. Now sit down," said Crowler condescendingly. "Now will someone please give me the answer. Preferably someone not wearing red, thank you."

The Obelisk Blue students started to laugh while Rose simply glared.

 **'What an ass. Syrus is a shy guy,'** thought Rose as she continued to glare.

"You know something teach?" asked Jaden, causing everyone to look at him. "You really shouldn't go making fun of us Slifers like that."

"Huh?" said Crowler, looking up at Jaden.

"I mean, I'm a Slifer and I beat ya. So, when you make fun of us, you're really making fun of yourself!" said Jaden as he began to laugh. The other Slifers began to laugh as well. Crowler started to bite on his handkerchief.

 **'Well said Jaden,'** though Rose as she and Alexis started to giggle.

 _ **~Next Class~**_

"As some of you students know, my name is Professor Liam Banner." Said Banner as he stroked his pet cat while sitting at the front of the class. "I specialize in some of the lesser known tactics and strategies in the world of duel monsters. Some that a few might even consider to be unnatural. Duel alchemy, for example."

 **'This is interesting,'** thought Rose as she took down notes. She looked around her and noticed that none of the other Obelisk Blue students were taking notes **. 'Of course, he's the head of the Slifer dorm.'**

"For sticking up for me!" said Syrus to loudly.

'Syrus!" said Banner, causing Syrus to stand up scared. "Do me a favor and grab Pharaoh, would you?"

"Pharaoh?" asked Syrus.

"Unless you are minoring as a scratch post," said Banner as everyone heard a mew come from Syrus' legs, making them laugh.

 _ **~Next Class~**_

"Hi everyone! My name is Fonda Fontaine and I'll be your gym instructor for this semester. You ready to sweat?" asked the gym instructor, who also happened to be the head of the Obelisk Blue Girl Dorms.

"She seems happy," said Jaden from his place of standing next to Rose.

"You have no idea," responded Rose with a sweat drop.

"I wonder where Sy is," though Jaden out load as he looked around.

 _ **~That Night~**_

"Alexis! Rose! Want to chill out in the Obelisk wading pool?" asked a girl.

"No thanks! We'll wade, and the boys will sway," replied Alexis as Rose laughed.

"I'm not in the mode for a game of tackle Marco Polo," said Rose.

"Hello! Girls dorm! No guys allowed, remember?" said another girl.

 _ **~In the pool~**_

"Can you believe what that Jaden kid said to Dr. Crowler today? He's got some nerve to talk to a teacher that way. Completely disrespectful. Don't you think?" asked Jasmine to Alexis and Rose as Mindy nodded.

"Actually, I think that it was kind of cool," said Rose with a smile.

"What! Him? Cool?" shouted Jasmine.

"He could be. If he had the talent to back up that talk, maybe," said Mindy, causing Jasmine to laugh.

"I think he just might, but I won't know till I duel him myself," said Alexis causing Rose to laugh and nodded in agreement.

"A boy!" yelled one of the girls outside causing all the other girls to grab towels and run out.

"I'm gonna go change," said Rose as she grabbed her towel. "Get me if you guys need me."

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"So, you want me to send a message to Jaden?" asked Rose to Alexis.

"Yes. It seems someone gave Syrus a love letter from me and so he came here. I was thinking that we could use Syrus as bait to get Jaden to duel one of us and we can see if he really is as good as he says," said Alexis with a smirk.

"Hmm. Okay. Give me your device," said Rose as Alexis gave her the device.

"What are you gonna do?" asked Mindy.

"Just going to send him a message using a voice modifier, that way he won't know who sent it," said Rose as she then gave the device to Alexis. "Try it out. If you like the message, then we can send it."

"Okay," said Alexis as she got ready. "We have your roommate Syrus. If you want him back, come to the girl's dorms now. Alone."

"That's good!" said Jasmine as Alexis then sent it to Jaden.

"Now we just have to wait," said Alexis. She then turned to Rose. "Do you want to duel him, or should I?"

"We can decide when the time comes, but I think you should since it was your plan," said Rose with a smile.

"We can decide later," decided Alexis as the girls left to get ready.

"Come on Syrus, let's go!" said Rose as she grabbed the tied-up boy and left to the docks.

"Rose! Please!" cried Syrus.

"Sorry man," replied Rose with a smile.

 **'You don't seem sorry,'** thought Syrus with a swat drop.

"Here he comes," said Mindy as the girls and Syrus watched Jaden come closer.

"Hi Jaden," said Syrus as Jaden got out of his boat.

"Hey," replied Jaden. "So, what exactly is going on here?"

"Well, to make a long story short: I'm basically a big loser," said Syrus.

"Your friend here trespassed into the girl's campus," said Jasmine.

"Is that true Sy?" asked Jaden in disappointment and surprise.

"Hey! It's not like that!" defended Syrus.

"And now that you're here, Jaden, you're trespassing too!" accused Mindy.

"That's right! And if you don't want us to turn you in, you're going to have to win your freedom by defeating one of us in a duel, right now!" said Alexis.

"But if you turn us in, we'll be expelled!" cried Syrus.

"Don't worry Sy, I won't let that happen! Now, let's duel Rose!" said Jaden, shocking Syrus.

"You want to duel me?" asked Rose as she blinked at him.

"Yeah! I've been wanting to for a while, so this is gonna be fun!" said Jaden as he smiled at the purple haired girl.

"Alright then, let's go!" said Rose as everyone got into their boats.

 _ **~Once in the Middle of the Lake~**_

"I hope you know what you're doing Jaden," said Syrus.

"Ready!" said Rose with a serious face.

"Oh yeah!" said Jaden.

"DUEL!" said the two teens.

"Get your game on Rose!" said Jaden with a smile.

"Here we go," said Syrus in fear.

"Let's see!" said Rose as she drew a card. "I play Flower Dancer and place one card face down."

Flower Dance was a beautiful female with green skin and an outfit made of different types of flowers. She had flowing green hair that was darker then her skin.

"Time to throw down!" said Jaden as he looked at the card he drew, "First, yes, I'll summon the Elemental Hero Sparkman and now I'll have him attack your Flower Dancer with Static Shock!"

"Hold it right there!" said Rose as she played her trap card. "I activate the trap card Protective Sacrifice!"

"Huh?"

"Protective Sacrifice makes it so you attack me directly instead of my monster. Now, since you were about to attack my monster, it gets to attack you directly."

"Great," said Jaden sarcastically.

"When Flower Dancer attacks directly, her attack points increase by 600."

"Jaden!" cried Syrus.

"That Rose is something else. Sacrificing her own life points just to get to mine," said Jaden in wonder.

"So, you impressed?" asked Rose with a smirk. Jaden just smirked back at her.

"Impressed? I think I'm in love," said Jaden as he looked her in the eyes. **'Definitely'**

"That's sweet, love. Too bad I'm going to have to beat you. Let's see if you're still in love after this," said Rose with a slight blush as she drew a card. "I play Thorn Heart. Then I activate the card Polymerization to fuse the two together to summon Thorn Dancer! Now, Thorn Dance, attack Sparkman with Thorn Rage!"

"Well, so much for him," said Jaden as his card was destroyed.

"Way to go Rose!" said Mindy

"Yeah, you got him now! I knew when this kid beat Dr. Crowler, it was just luck," said Jasmine.

"You go girl," said Alexis.

"Well, it will be my pleasure to prove you wrong. My draw! I activate the field spell card, Fusion Gate! Now I can summon fusion monster without a Polymerization card. And, I'm gonna summon this one: Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

"Okay. You do realize that they have the same attack points and will just end up destroying each other," said Rose with a smirk.

"Not after this, they won't," said Jaden as he played a card. "I activate the spell card Kishido Spirit! Now Wingman can take down any monster with the same attack points and not be destroyed. And thanks to his super power, once he destroys your Thorn Dancer, you take damage equal to her attack points."

"Damn," said Rose as she gritted her teeth.

"Now go Flame Wingman and attack her Thorn Dancer!"

 **'Cute,'** thought Rose and Wingman attacked her Thorn Dancer, only for there to be no damage.

"What? She survived my Wingman's attack," said Jaden in shock.

"Simple. My Thorn Dancer's special ability makes it so that she can't be destroyed if my opponent only has one monster," said Rose with a smirk.

"But, then that would mean that," trailed of Jaden.

"That neither of us lose any life points," finished Rose.

"Well, I guess you got me," said Jaden.

"When I get you, you'll know it," said Rose with a smile as she winked at him causing both Jaden and Syrus to slightly blush.

 **'Cute,'** thought the two boys.

"I equip my spell, Fusion Weapon, onto my Thorn Dancer!" said Rose as she played her card.

"Oh oh, I think you might want to brace yourself for this one Sy, old buddie," said Jaden with a smile.

"Go Dancer! Attack Flame Wingman with Trident Shock!" called Rose as her monster attacked.

"Hope you boys haven't unpacked your bags here yet," said Alexis with a smirk.

"Yeah! Because if you lose, you're both getting expelled," said Mindy in a sing song voice.

"We are!" said Syrus in fear.

"That's not gonna happen Sy, promise," said Jaden as he looked back at Syrus.

 **'You shouldn't make promises you can't deliver,'** thought Rose. **'I really would hate to see him go.'**

 **'I hope I'm not making a promise I can't deliver,'** thought Jaden as he looked at Rose. **'I've got someone to impress.'**

"Here goes!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "Perfect!"

"Huh?" said Rose in shock as Jaden smiled.

"I play the Elemental Hero: ClayMan. Rise up!" he said a she played the card. "And now I activate Monster Reborn! So, come on back Elemental Hero Speakman."

"He can't beat my monster. She's stronger than him," said Rose with a smirk.

"With my field spell still in effect, I can fuse my monsters together to get someone who will beat your monster," said Jaden. "Rise! Elemental Hero: Thunder Giant!"

"Hate to brake it to you, but Thorn Dancer's attack points are higher," said Rose with a frown.

"I know, I know," said Jaden with a smile "but with Thunder Giants ability, he can destroy any monster whose original attack points are less than his own."

"Original attack points?"

"That's right. Attack points without any type of enhancement."

"But before I played Fusion Weapon, her attack points were 2,100," said Rose in shock.

"That's right! That's lower than my Hero Thunder Giant, so your Dancer is automatically destroyed!" said Jaden as his monster attacked and destroyed Rose's monster. "And the coolest part of it Rose, is that I still have the rest of his attack to use on you! Baltic Thunder!"

"Ugh," said Rose as she almost fell back.

"Rose!" said Jasmine.

"What just happened?" asked Mindy in shock.

"You okay Rose?" asked Alexis as she helped the girl sit down.

"Yeah!" yelled Syrus as he hugged Jaden.

"Alright! Looks like that is game!" said Jaden as he smiled at the girls with a wink.

 _ **~After Rowing Next to Each Other~**_

"Well, a deal is a deal. I won, so we get off free!" said Jaden with a smile.

"Okay guys, we won't back out. We'll keep quiet about what happened tonight," said Alexis as she stood next to Rose.

"Well, if you ask me, I think we should turn both of them in, right now!" said Jasmine.

"Well, no one asked you," said Rose annoyed.

"Rose," said Jasmine in shock.

"Jaden beat me in a duel, fair and square and that's all there is to it," said Rose.

"No, there is more to it than that, it was close," said Jaden causing the girls to look at him.

"Hmm?"

"Yeah, you got game," said Jaden as he smiled at Rose. He and Syrus then sat in their boat. "Later!"

 **'Even if I would have won, there is no way I would have turned them in. Syrus is fun to mess with and Jaden. . . is Jaden,'** thought Rose as she smiled at the boys leaving. Jaden looked up at her and smiled back.

 **'Rose seems very happy. She must really like being around them, especially him,'** thought Alexis with a smirk. **'I am so picking on her about this.'**


	5. Making the Grade!

Episode: 4

 **'This test isn't so hard,'** thought Rose to herself as she filled out the answers.

"You have 45 minutes left to finish your test," said Professor Banner.

 **'I wonder where Jaden is?'** thought Rose as she finished her test.

"You two want to keep it down! Some of us plan to pass this test," said Chazz in anger, causing Rose to turn and look in his direction to see him speaking to Jaden.

 **'He so late,'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"Oh Jaden~" sand Professor Banner, causing Jaden to turn around and run to him to get his test.

 _ **~Sometime Later~**_

"Alright class! The written exam is now over!" announced Professor Banner. "So please walk, not run, to get in line for today's new rare cards."

"There here!" yelled someone.

"Oh dear," said the Professor as students then started to run out of the class room.

"Say, you two may want to give some serious thought to waking up," said Bastion as he shook Syrus and Jaden while Rose laughed next to him.

"Ahh, I flunked, didn't I?" asked Syrus as he stood up and cried, "I'm a complete failure, aren't I?"

"If there was a grade foe melodrama, you would get an A!" said Jaden as he woke up, causing Rose to laugh and Bastion to smirk.

"Where did everybody go?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you. The new rare cards arrived today and everyone's at the card shack," said Bastion.

"What! New cards! How come no one told us!?" asked Syrus.

"Because everyone wants the best cards for themselves. Why would they want to tell possible competition?" asked Rose as she sat up on the desk next to Bastion.

"That's right," said Bastion as he put one hand on the desk next to Rose and lead on it. Rose didn't seem to mind that he was closer to her, but Jaden looked at them weird. "They want to be able to use them in the upcoming field test.

"So why aren't the two of you getting some?" asked Syrus, annoyed.

"Please, I wouldn't want to upset the balance of my deck," said Bastion as he smirked at the other two boys. Rose nodded.

"Same, besides, you don't always need powerful cards to win, just a good strategy," she said with a smile.

 **'Cute,'** thought Syrus with a blush.

 **'She is definitely one to look out for,'** thought Bastion as he smirked at her. Jaden narrowed his eyes at him.

 **'Why don't I like that?'** Jaden asked himself.

"Mine wouldn't!" yelled Syrus as he looked at Jaden, getting back on topic.

"Then let's go! Nothing like the smell of new cards in the morning!" said Jaden as he and Syrus ran. "Thanks for the tip!"

"Well, they are certainly energetic, aren't they?" said Bastion as he moved from his position and put his hand out for Rose to take. She grabbed his hand and jumped down from the desk. Once down she began to straighten out her skirt.

"Yeah, now if only they were like that for everything else," she said with a laugh, causing Bastion to smirk in return.

"Shall we go?" asked Bastion.

"Yeah," said Rose as the two walked off to start getting ready for the field test.

 _ **~Beginning of the Field Test~**_

"Wonderfully done, Rose," said Bastion as Rose finished her battle.

"Thanks Bastion! You did good in yours too!" said Rose with a smile.

"I hope I do good too," said Syrus as he walked up to her with Jaden behind him.

"I'm sure you will," said Rose as she smiled sweetly at Syrus, causing said boy to blush.

"I must say, that combination was terrific. I hope to be able to duel you soon," said Bastion to Rose.

Jaden watched the two threw narrowed eyes as he tried to understand why he thought it was weird. He shrugged it off and jumped in between the two to hug Rose.

"You did awesome!" he yelled as he hugged her.

"Woo!" said Rose, not expecting the sudden weight. "Thanks Jaden."

"Jaden, it's your turn!" said Syrus as he pointed to the screen. Jaden laughed and ran off.

"Is that Chazz?" asked Rose as she saw Professor Crawler talk about how he was trying to give Jaden the challenge he deserved.

 **'I've got a bad feeling about this,'** thought Syrus.

 **'This is clearly a trap,'** thought Bastion **. 'Only a cavalier fool would agree to it.'**

"I'll do it!" said Jaden, shocking everyone. "Alright, Chazz! Get your game on! Let's finish what we started at Obelisk arena!"

"Indeed. In front of the whole school, too," said Crowler, "where everyone can watch!"

"Yeah. Watch you get slammed by me!" said Chazz.

"DUEL!" yelled the two boys.

"No excuses this time, Chazz!" yelled Jaden.

"Bring it Slifer slacker!" yelled Chazz.

"Oh, it is brought!"

"Why am I not surprised?" said Rose with a sweat drop.

"He's a special one, that's for sure," agreed Bastion.

"You remember this guy, don't you, Chazz, from our first match?!" said Jaden as he played a card. "Elemental Hero Clayman! He'd like to get reacquainted."

"Not after he sees what I got for him!" laughed Chazz.

"Don't think for a second that that oversize pile of pebbles has a chance against me or against this!" yelled Chazz as he drew a card. "Fresh off the presses, meet Magical Mallet!"

"What's that?" asked Jaden.

"A redo. All the cards in my hand that I don't want, I put back in my deck. Then I shuffle and redraw. Pretty cool, don't you think?"

"Wait, are those rare cards?" asked Rose as they watched the duel.

"I wonder who gave them to him," asked Bastion as he put a hand on his chin.

"Probably Crwaler," replied Rose.

"Probably," replied Bastion and Syrus as Chazz played the card again until he got the card he wanted.

"V Tiger Jet! Sharpen your claws for attack mode!" said Chazz. "And there's a lot more where that came from! Check out the magic of Frontline Base! It lets me summon another Level-4 or below monster this turn, and I have just the one. I play W-Wing Catapult in attack mode! Gentlemen, start your engines!

"Now merge! Alright! The VW-Tiger Catapult! But wait. I'm not done yet 'cause he still has his special ability!"

"That's not good!" said Jaden.

"Gimme a break!" yelled Syrus. "Is this guy's turn going to end sometime this century?!"

"By sending a card to the graveyard, I can force one of your monsters into attack mode!" said Chazz as Clayman stood up. "So now after this Heastseeker Blitz from my Tiger Catapult, your life points are toast!"

As Jaden's monster was destroyed, his life points went down to 2,800.

"I'll finish up with one card face down."

"Yeah, go ahead and finish up. Cuz I'm just getting' warmed up! And speakin' of, here's a guy who can really turn up the heat!" said Jaden as he played a card. "Elemental Hero Sparkman in defense mode! And I'll throw down a face down!"

"Not much else he can do with all the new rares Chazz seems to have!" said Bastion.

"It's just not fair," said Syrus.

 **'Rose Guardian, can you check Crawler,'** thought Rose to herself as her Rose Guardian appeared above her. Said card went to the box that Professor Crawler was in and listen into his conversation with Chancellor Sheppard. She then went back to Rose and nodded. Rose nodded in return and Rose Guardian disappeared.

 **'So, he is behind this, idiot,'** thought Rose as she watched Jaden play his winged Kuriboh.

"How cute!" said a lot of the girls.

"I want one," mumbled Rose, causing Bastion and Syrus to sweat drop at her.

"I'm sure we can find you a plushy or something," said Bastion. Rose looked at him with stars in her eyes.

"You think!"

 **'Who knew she loved cute things so much,'** thought Bastion as he smiled at her with a sweat drop. "Sure, I don't see why not."

"YAY!" cheered Rose as she hugged Bastion.

 **'Why is she hugging him?'** thought both Chazz and Jaden as they watched Rose hug Bastion.

 **'Why do I feel like my life is endanger,'** thought Bastion with a sweat drop.

"I think you can let him go now Rose," laughed Syrus.

"Right. Sorry!" giggled Rose.

"It's okay," smiled Bastion.

 **'Why is he smiling at her?'** thought Chazz and Jaden.

"And I'll throw down a face down too. That's it," said Jaden as he focused back on the duel.

"That's it?" asked Syrus in shock. "That's all? But all he's been playing is defense!"

 **'You better know what your doing, Jaden,'** thought Rose.

"All done, huh?" asked Chazz as he drew a card. "Good, cuz now I can cook that Kuriboh, and I like mine well done! There's about to be a fired furball on the field, ya loser!"

"You don't scar me," said Jaden.

"No big deal. I don't have to. That's his job! Dragon Catapult Cannon, attack!"

"Once that Kuriboh is gone, Jaden will be completely defenseless!" yelled Syrus.

"Alright! Secret weapon time!" yelled Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. "I sacrifice two cards and activate Transcendent Wings!"

"Aah! It can't be!" yelled Chazz as his attack was deflected.

"Oh, it be," said Jaden. "Transcendent Wings has evolved Winged Kuriboh into a level-10 monster! And it gets better, too! By sacrificing himself, Kuriboh destroys all monsters in attack mode and deflects their attack points back as damage to you! Kuriboh, why dontcha go ahead and show him how it works?!"

Jaden managed to bring Chazz's life points down to 1,000.

"Lucky punk," said Chazz in anger.

"Lucky?!" asked Jaden. "Nah, I just happen to have a soft spot for old ladies, but not foe you, Chazz, and that's too bad cuz with a 1,000 life points apiece and my turn comin' up, all I need is the right monster, and you'll be finished!

"Here goes something!" yelled Jaden as he drew a card. "Yeah, Elemental Hero Avian! Attack!"

Everyone gasped as Chazz's life points went to zero. They then started cheering for Jaden.

"He did it!" yelled Syrus in happiness.

"You really shouldn't underestimate that one," said Rose to Bastion.

"You'd be a fool if you did," he replied.

"Let's go," she said to the two boys who followed her down to Jaden.

"Hey! Jaden!" yelled Syrus as he ran to his friend. Bastion and Rose fallowing behind.

"That was well played, Jaden," said Chancellor Sheppard through the speakers. "Not in the history of out revered academy has a Slifer ever duel an Obelisk in these exams. Jaden, not only did you hold your own, but you won! Your courage against overwhelming odds is inspiring. It is with great pride that I promote you to Ra Yellow. Good job!"

"Yeah!" cheered that stadium.

"Ra Yellow!" said Syrus in surprised as he then hugged Jaden. "You're the best, Jaden."

"I do what I can!" said Jaden with a big grin.

"Good show, Jaden," said Bastion as he put his hand out for Jaden to shake. "Let me be the first to welcome you to the Ra dorm."

"Thanks!" said Jaden as he shook Bastion's hand.

"Good job, Jaden," said Rose as she walked up to him.

"Thanks! I-" started Jaden, only to be cut off by Rose kissing his cheek.

"I'm proud of you," she said with a smile. Jaden's face started to turn a little red.

 **'No!'** thought Chazz as he went into a depressed state.

 **'We'll there's that,'** thought Bastion as he watched Syrus talk about how lucky Jaden was to get a kiss from a girl while Rose just laughed at the two.


	6. The Shadow Duelist

Episode(s): 5 – 6

"Alexis, where are you going?" asked Rose as she noticed Alexis walking out of her room. Rose was going to her room after talking to some of the girls about an assignment for one of their classes.

"It'd nothing," said Alexis as she looked away.

"Alexis?" asked Rose as she walked up to her.

"It's just," started Alexis as she told Rose about her brother missing and how she was going to the abandon building.

"I'll go with you," said Rose, shocking Alexis.

"You don't have to!" said Alexis.

"No, but I know you need someone, and I don't mind being that someone," said Rose with a smile. Alexis smiled back at her and the two left.

The two girls walked to the abandon dorm, when they heard voices. The two girls walked toward the noise when Alexis stepped on a branch.

"Ahhh! SO, WHAT'S THAT!" screamed Chumley and Syrus. Jaden shined his light in the direction of the noise, only to see Alexis and Rose.

"Hi Rose, Alexis," said Jaden with a normal voice while Chumley jumped on his back and Syrus held onto his arm.

"Rose! Alexis! What are you two doing here?" asked Syrus.

"Funny, we should be asking you the same thing," said Alexis as the two girls walked to the boys.

"We heard about abounded dorm and wanted to check it out," said Jaden.

"Well that's not very intelligent," said Rose as she stared at the boys. "Kids have been disappearing around here."

"Oh, come on! That's just some urban myth," said Jaden with a smile.

"No, it's not. Believe me, I know," said Alexis. "Why else would they make this building completely forbidden?"

"If they catch you here, they will expel you," said Rose as she stood next to Jaden.

"Yeah, so why are the two of you here?" asked Jaden as he smirked at the girls.

"I have my reason, that's why!" yelled Alexis, scarring Jaden and Rose. Since Rose was next to her and not expecting it, she jumped into Jaden who grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him.

 **'She didn't have to scream,'** thought Rose as she looked at her friend.

"Wow, Alexis. No need to snap," said Jaden as he let go of Rose, "We just came here to look around, but we will stay out of your way, don't worry about it."

"It's just that," started Alexis as she looked away. She then started to walk away as the others looked at her.

"It's just that, what?" asked Syrus.

"One of the kids who disappeared here, was my brother."

 **'Oh, that explains the rose,'** though Jaden as he looked at the rose in front of the gates. **'But why is Rose here?'**

"If Alexis' brother really disappeared, then the rumors aren't really rumors," said Syrus. "I say we go back, Jaden."

"Yeah, well, I say we go in!" said Jaden as he and Chumley started to walk in.

"WHAT!?"

"See you in a few, Syrus!" said Jaden with a laugh. "Don't disappear on us."

"Disappear!" Syrus freaked out as he ran after the other two. "Wait up!"

"We should go back now Alexis," said Rose as she and Alexis watched the boys leave.

"Yeah," she said as the two turned around only to have someone appear in front of them. The two girls looked up and the man smirked at them. The two screamed and then all went silent.

 _ **~Sometime Later~**_

"Mmmmhh," moaned Rose as she started to wake up.

"Rose?" asked Alexis from nearby, "where are we?"

"On a hook, dangling, baiting your friends into my trap," said a male voice.

"Jaden," whispered Rose in shock.

A bright light then went off, causing the two girls to scream before they knocked out.

 _ **~Sometime Later~**_

"Rose! Alexis!" yelled Jaden as the boys got to where they heard the screams come from. They saw both girls inside of coffins.

"They can't hear you. They're far away locked in the shadow realm," said a male voice.

"Who's there?" asked Jaden as the fog picked up. They watched as a man came out of the fog.

"Your worst nightmare come true," said the man.

"Oh, give me a break," said Jaden with annoyance.

"Then let me prove it to you, in a shadow game."

"We need to get the girls back," said Syrus in concern.

"Yeah, hand them over right now or you'll be sorry!" said Jaden in anger.

"The only way I will free them is if you beat me in a shadow game," said the man.

"He's not looking at me, is he?" asked Chumley.

"Look, I'm not afraid of dueling you, but shadow games don't exist," said Jaden.

"The others didn't believe in the shadow game either, but they were soon convinced, for you see, when you lose in a shadow game, you don't just pay with your life points, you pay with your soul," said the man.

"So, you're the one behind all those disappearances," said Jaden. "Well, you're not getting us, especially the girls!"

"Unless you win, they're mine forever, and so shall you be," said the man with a smirk.

"Like I'm going to let some perv get what he wants," said Jaden in anger as he turned to Chumley to get a duel disk. "Get your game on."

"Shadow game, that is!"

"Just hang on girls, I'll get you two out."

"DUEL!" said the two males.

 _ **~After Jaden Discovers the Truth~**_

 **'We're not playing in the shadows, he's playing with my mind!'** thought Jaden as he stood up. "Well no more! I've got this shadow game scam figured out."

"Did he just say, 'shadow game scam'?" asked Chumley.

"What's he mean?" asked Syrus.

"I mean," started Jaden. "My soul isn't on the serving plate anymore!"

"Huh?" said the two other guys.

"Let's keep going! My turn!" said Jaden as he drew a card.

 **'What's happening? Why isn't he scared anymore?'** thought Titan.

Jaden used his attack to stop the allusion on the field.

"So, what? You still haven't stopped this!" said Titan as he showed the boys his Millennium Puzzle.

"You should be carful what you wish for, you just might get it!" said Jaden as he threw one of his cards and destroyed the item. This caused his body to reappear.

"Alright Jaden! You got your body back!" said Syrus in happiness.

"I never lost it," said Jaden as he turned his head to smile at his friend. "This whole shadow game was just a big fake."

"Huh?" said his friends.

"It was all just hypnosis. A whole lot of smoke and mirrors to make me think that I was losing my soul. This guy is a complete sham," said Jaden as he pointed at Titan. "I mean he's probably some out of work carnie!"

"I'm not out of work," said Titan. "I can get my job at the fair back anytime I want!"

"Yeah, and I'm sure that you could. And I'm sure that, that paper millennium item goes over well with the kiddies."

"No! Be quite! Its real! I'm real!"

"You're a sideshow phony!"

"You fool! You forget!" said Titan in anger as he then smirked. "The girls."

"Rose and Alexis," said Chumley in concern.

"That's right!" he laughed. "Imprisoned in the shadow tomb. Their souls are festering in the dark creases in the nether world! That proves that this millennium pendent is real! What do you have to say to that!?"

"Besides that you're a big dunce?" asked Jaden with a laugh.

"Huh?" said Titan in shock.

"You see, all of the millennium items were sketched on the inside of this dorm," said Jaden with a smirk. "And yours would be called the millennium puzzle, not pendent. You don't have the girl's soul, you never did! So, hand them over and hand over all the other kids you snatched your pedophile!"

"Other kids? Pedophile!? I don't know what you're talking about," said Titan in annoyance. "And because of your earlier carnie comment, you can find your friends by yourself!"

Titan threw down a smoke bomb, covering himself to make his escape.

"No way in hell! You are not getting away that easily!" yelled Jaden as he ran after the man, not noticing that the statues he ran by began to light up until all their lights hit the middle forming the all-seeing eye.

"Wow!" said Jaden in shock and awe. "How did you do this trick?"

"I didn't" said Titan in shock.

"What the fuck!?" said Jaden in shock as the wind picked up around them. It then condensed and sealed them inside of a shadow ball.

 _ **~After the Real Shadow Duel~**_

"Jaden!" yelled Syrus.

"You okay?" asked Chumley as the two ran to their friend.

"Never better guys!" said Jaden with a smile and a wave.

"What happened in there?"

"Ahh!" they all scream as the shadow ball started to get smaller and electricity shot out of it. They all fell to the ground to try and get away.

As the ball got smaller, it started to suck in more air, causing the coffin hold Rose to slowly slide down.

 **'Shit!'** thought Jaden as he jumped on it to stop it from moving.

"What a cool trick!" said Jaden as he clapped. "What do you guys think he does for encores?"

"You don't think that was the real deal?" asked Syrus in shock.

"Nah. It was all just mirrors and smoke machines, just like I said. Though, I'd give my entire deck to know how he did it. I've never seen anything like it."

"They're still asleep?" asked Chumley in surprise as he looked at the two girls.

"Lets take them out side," said Jaden as he picked up Rose in his arms, carrying her bridle style.

"Right," said Chumley as he picked up Alexis.

 **'I feel like a prince saving his princess,'** thought Jaden with a light blush as they started to make their way to leave the dorms.

 _ **~After Walking Some Distance From the Dorms~**_

"Huh?" said Rose as she opened her eyes.

"Well, good morning sleeping beauty," said Jaden with a smile.

"Where are we?" said Alexis as she woke up and looked around and saw the three boys. "What are you doing here?"

"Hold on, what kind of a thank you is that?" asked Jaden with a laugh and gave the girls a closed eye smile. "We're here because we had to find the bad guys, win the duel, and rescue the damsels in distress."

"Yeah! That strange man snatched us!" said Rose as she looked at the boys.

"That's right!" said Jaden as he reached into his pockets to take somethings out. He handed a card to Rose and a frame to Alexis "We found Rose's card and this."

"My brother!" said Alexis in shock as she looked at the picture. "This is the first trace of him I've seen in a long time."

"That's right," said Jaden as he moved closer to Rose as she was sitting between him and Alexis. "I brought it to let you know that we want to help you look for him. After all, we can't have you girls getting locked up in anymore tombs, searching for him with just the two of you."

"You really were worried about us, weren't you?" asked Rose as she smiled at Jaden, causing him to smile more.

"Uh oh, Suns up," said Jaden as he and the boys stood up. "We better get back before they notice that we were gone."

"By girls!" said Syrus.

"See you later," said Chumley. The three then started to run away.

"Oh, and if anyone ask, we were never here!" said Jaden as he continued running.

 _ **~Later after Class~**_

"Jaden!" called Rose as everyone cleared out for the end of the day.

"Hey Rose," said Jaden after he nodded at Chumley and Syrus to go on without him. He smiled at the purple haired girl.

"I never got to thank you for saving me," she said with a smile as the two stood near one of the status.

"No problem! I will always be there to fight for my friends!" said Jaden as he smiled with his eyes closed.

"Well, I still need to thank you."

"You don't have to-" started Jaden, but he was cut off by the feeling of something soft on his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Rose leaning in and kissing his cheek.

"Thanks Jaden," said Rose with a light blush as she turned and ran back toward the Obelisk Blue dorms.

"She kissed me," mumbled Jaden as his face turned red and he started to smile widely. "Best day ever!"


	7. Building Syrus' Confidence

Episode(s): 7 - 8

"Rose! Rose!" yelled a voice.

"Hm?" said Rose as she turned to see who was calling for her. It turned out to be Alexis with a worried faced. "What's wrong?"

"Jaden and Syrus are in trouble for going to the abandon dorms," said Alexis once she caught up to the purple haired girl.

"What!?" she asked in shock.

"Apparently, they have to do a tag-team duel now, and if they lost they get expelled!" said Alexis in concern.

"Shit! We need to tell the Chancellor that we were there too!"

"Right!" said Alexis as the two girls ran toward the Chancellor's office.

As the girls reached the office, they heard Chumley's voice as he talked to Chancellor Sheppard about being the one to duel with Jaden.

"No," said Alexis as the two girls walked in, "it should be one of us."

Both males were shocked by the girl's sudden appearance.

"Listen, they were at the dorm help us," said Rose as she looked at Sheppard.

"That's bogus!" said Chumley. "Girls, it was so totally our fault! I lead them to the abandoned dorm because I wanted to check out the abandoned cafeteria."

"Fat chance Chumley," said Alexis in annoyance. "Please Chancellor, let me be his partner."

"Look," said Sheppard with a smile, "I realize the stakes are high, but the team up has been set: Syrus is Jaden's partner. And I'm sure that he'll do fine."

The three just looked at each other with concern.

 _ **~Sometime Later~**_

"I'm not sure Jaden knows how to go easy," said Chumley as he watched Jaden and Syrus get ready to duel.

"That's probably a good thing," said Rose as she and Alexis came up from behind him.

"What do you mean?" asked Chumley as he looked at the two girls.

"She means that I know Doctor Crowler and I know he isn't going to pair the two up with some amateur," said Alexis. "They'll both need to be at their very best, because if they're not. . ."

"They'll both be expelled," finished Rose as the three watched them.

 _ **~During the Duel~**_

"So, does anyone actually question why the crazy, questionable gender, teacher has it out for Jaden?" asked Rose as the three watched the duel.

"My guess is it has to do with the fact the Jaden beat him during his entrance exam," replied Alexis.

"Questionable gender?" asked Chumley with a laugh.

"Like you weren't thinking it," said Rose with a smirk.

"I thought he was a women at first," said Alexis with a laugh.

"See! I'm not the only one," said Rose as she laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Jaden as he and Syrus looked up at the two.

"Don't worry! We'll tell you later!"

"You better!"

"Anyway guys, I need to go study, so I'll see you all later!" said Rose as she started to walk away.

"Later Rose!" said Jaden as he saw her leaving.

 **'How did he notice her leaving?'** thought the others.

"By Jaden!" yelled Rose back with a smile. **'Now to go fix my deck, I haven't done that in a while and I really need to start doing it more often.'**

 _ **~The Next Day~**_

"Well today has been interesting," said Rose as she was walking to the dorms.

"Rose," said a male voice.

"Huh?" said Rose as she turned to see who was calling her. "Hi, um?"

"Zane," said the male with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, yes. Alexis told me about you," said Rose as she rubbed her head. "I'm not good at remembering names if I've never met the person."

"That's fine," said Zane as he walked toward Rose. He stopped when he was right in front of her, forcing her to look up at him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as she tilted her head.

"Come with me," said Zane as he turned around and started walking.

"You know, this is how horror movies sometimes start," said Rose with a sing song voice as she followed him.

"And yet you follow me?" he asked as he turned his head to look at her.

"I'm curious as to why someone I've never really talked to wants to talk to me all of a sudden."  
"It's about Alexis' brother."

"Oh?"

"I feel that if you are there when I talk to Alexis, she will feel free to express herself."

"You really care for her."

"Her brother is my best friend," started Zane as they stopped at the pier. "I feel like it's my duty to watch out for her with her brother being gone."

"That's nice," said Rose with a smile as looked at the sunset.

The two stood in silence until they heard some footsteps heading toward them.

"So, any new leads?" asked Zane as Alexis walked up to the two.

"I can't believe he's still gone. I keep looking for some sign, but its like my brother vanished into thin air," replied Alexis as Rose went to hold her hand. The two girls smiled at each other.

"Don't give up, you'll find him."

"I hope so," said Alexis as she looked at Zane. "Speaking of brothers, Zane, I saw yours the other day."

"Oh, did you now?" asked Zane in an annoyed voice.

"Yeah. He lost in a practice duel to Jaden Yuki. Your name came up too and not in a good way. And Rose, why did you leave early?"

"Had to fix my deck," Rose replied as she looked at Zane **. 'So Syrus is his brother?'**

"The big bad brother. What, does Jaden want to scold me now?" asked Zane.

"Knowing Jaden, he probably wants to duel you," said Rose with a smile.

"Stay back Jaden!" said a voice.

The three Obelisk Blue students turned to look at were the voice was coming from. They were shocked to see Syrus and what looked like a make-shift raft.

"What is Syrus doing?" asked Alexis in concern.

"Never mind Syrus, what about Jaden!" said Rose in shock as Jaden jumped onto the raft, knocking it over.

"Don't worry, they're in shallow waters," said Zane as the three watched. "Let's go."

"Right!" replied the two girls as they fallowed him to where the three boys were.

"Be careful," said Alexis as the three walked down the cliff.

"Don't worry," said Rose with a smile.

She and Alexis were still a little ways up as Zane managed to move faster than them. Alexis managed to get down to where Zane was and was going to tell Rose to watch her step when she heard a gasp. She looked up to see Rose slip off the side. Zane, ever the quick thinker, managed to turn and catch her in his arms. Before Rose could say thank you, Zane turned around to say something to the boys, bring the boys attention to the three new commers.

"He is right, you know," said Zane with no emotion as the three looked up at him and the girls.

"Zane!" said Syrus in shock.

"So that's the schools top duelist?" asked Jaden out loud as he glared at Zane. He clenched his fist. **'Why the hell is he holding Rose like that? Are they dating or something?'**

"You dropping out?" asked Zane as he put Rose down. He glanced at the purpled hair girl to make sure she was okay, only to receive a sweet smile in thanks from said girl. This annoyed Jaden more.

"Well, yeah, kind of," replied Syrus.

"Well, it's about time."

"You're his big brother! How can you say that!?" yelled Jaden.

"Because I know him," Zane replied, causing the two girls to look at him in shock.

"Yeah, and I guess you think you know it all, but guess what, you don't! And I'm going to prove it, right now! Let's duel!"

"No, Jaden!" yelled Syrus.

"Duel a Slifer?" Zane asked as he then smirked. "Sure, why not? After all, it's been a while since I went slumming."

"Why do I have a feeling that this is not going to end well," said Rose to Alexis.

"Because it won't," replied Alexis as the two girls looked at each other in worry.

The group of six walked up to the deck so that Zane and Jaden could duel.

"Why do you think Jaden is dueling Zane?" asked Alexis to Rose.

"It probably has to due with Syrus' confidence," said Rose in response.

"Yeah, but maybe, for Zane, it's more then just a duel," said Alexis with a smile.

"Oh?" asked Rose with a similar smile as she looked at Zane. **'Could he be doing this in a way to help Syrus too?'**

 **'Is she smiling at him?'** though Jaden with a glare, causing Zane to raise an eyebrow.

"Duel," said the two boys.

"Here I come Zane," said Jaden as he drew a card. "First, I'm gonna summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode! And I think I'll go ahead and throw down a facedown while I'm at it."

"That's all huh?" asked Zane as he drew a card. "Ok, for my first move, I summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode."

"What!?" yelled Jaden in shock. "How can you bring a Level 5 monster out on your very first turn?"

"I can play my Cyber Dragon because it's my first turn, Jaden. With no monsters out, he requires no sacrifice. And now I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card."  
"That was fast," responded Jaden as he card was destroyed.

"Not as fast as your life point meter will go down. Cyber Dragon, attack! Strident Blast!" said Zane as Jaden's life points went down to 2,900. "Next, I activate the spell card Different Dimension Capsule. It allows me to pick any card from my deck. Then I simply place it in the capsule, and in two turns I get to take it out and put it right into my hand."

"Man, that's gotta be the best card out a' his entire deck," said Jaden in awe. "I can't wait to see what's gonna come out of there."

"It's your move, Jaden."

"Alright, round two," said Jaden as he drew a card, "and first I'll rock Polymerization. And next I'll roll out Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman and fuse them to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant. And since his special ability destroys monsters with less attack points than him, your Cyber Dragon gets vaporized!

"Yes!" said Jaden as the monster was destroyed. "Looks like Thunder Giant just made the big man on campus get a little bit smaller, wouldn't you say?"

"We really need to talk to him about being over confident," said Rose with a sweat drop.

"Yeah," agreed Alexis and Chumley.

"And the best part is that since that blast was just Thunder Giant's special ability, I still get to use his attack!" said Jaden. "And since you're now defenseless, I'm gonna use it directly on you!"

"Wow," said Syrus as his brother's life points went down to 1,600.

"Cool," said Rose as she noticed that Zane didn't even flinch. She smiled at him, impressed.

"Ya could at least kind of flinch," said Jaden annoyed. "Oh, well, maybe this facedown card will get ya to later."

"Nice moves, kid," said Zane as he drew a card. "Of course, with my field now empty again, I can just throw out another Cyber Dragon. Or better yet, two. And with just one monster in my graveyard, you can guess who's coming back. But neither will be here long, in present form.

"Dragons, unite. Now, Cyber Twin Dragon, emerge."

"Twin Dragon?" asked Chumley in shock. "One was tough enough."

"Now, my dragon can attack twice in a round, which means double trouble for your monster and your life points! Twin Dragon, attack!"

"Not so fast," said Jaden, "I've gotta trap card out: A Hero Emerges! Now normally, you'd have to randomly pick one a' the cards in my hand, and if it was a monster, I'd get to summon it. But since I only have one card in my hand, let's just get tight to it, shall we? Wroughtweiler, defense mode."

"You'll need him," said Zane as his dragon continued with his attack. "Cyber Twin Dragon, Double Strident Blast!"

"Jay," said Syrus as his life points went down to 2,600.

"Glad you did that, 'cuz when Wroughtweiler's destroyed, his special ability activates. It brings one Elemental Hero and one Polymerization card back from the graveyard and into my hand. And just when you thought you could probably stop worryin' about 'em, huh, Zane?"

"I don't worry," said Zane, unaffected.

"Man, you're chill," laughed Jaden. Not worryin', not even flinchin'. You are good."

"You too, Jaden," said Zane with a smirk. Syrus looked shock. Rose smiled when she noticed the look on Syrus' face.

"Now, where was I?" asked Jaden. "Oh, yeah. I was about to summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode. And since Bubbleman's the only monster out on my field, I can use his special ability to draw two more card to my hand.

"Alright, Zane, I play Polymerization and fuse my Elemental Hero Bubbleman with Elemental Hero Clayman. Now, Elemental Hero Mudballman, rise in defense mode."

"'Lishus," said Chumley. "Mudballman's got 3,000 defense points. That Twin Dragon's attack won't get through to Jaden."

"Now gimme your best shot, Zane," said Jaden in a determined voice.

"My best shot?" asked Zane a she drew a card. "You got it. It's been two turns since I first activated Different Dimension Capsule, and now I can take the card I first put into it and add it to my hand. You played well, but not well enough."

"Hey, gimme what you got. I'm ready," smiled Jaden.

"I'm sure you are. A good duelist is ready for anything, and that means not just knowing how to use all of their cards, but knowing how to play them, too, and you play your cards well, Jaden," said Zane with a smile.

 **'You better be listening to him, Syrus,** ' thought Rose with a found smile.

"First I'll activate the De-Fusion card. It splits my monster back into two separate Cyber Dragons. Next, I'll activate the magic of Power Bond. With this spell card, I'm allowed to summon a Machine-Type fusion monster. And with another Cyber Dragon in my hand as well, I can now fuse three of them together and create The Cyber End Dragon."

"That's a cool card," said Rose as Alexis nodded in agreement.

"Plus, its attack points are doubled because of power bond's effect."

"8,000?" said Chumley in shock.

"And keep in mind, when Cyber End Dragon attacks, the difference between his attack points and your monster defense points are dealt to you as damage."

"Just hang tough!" said Chumley to Jaden. "If you can survive his attack, you can win for sure, 'cause of power bond's nasty side effect."

"Chumley's right," said Alexis.

"At the end of the turn Power Bond is used, the player who activated the card takes damage equal to their attacking monster's original attack points," said Rose.

"Cyber End Dragon attack Mudballman," said Zane. "Super Strident Blaze!"

"Jaden! No!" yelled Chumley.

"I can't believe it," said Alexis. "He lost."

"NO!" yelled Syrus as he runs to Jaden.

 **'He makes it seem like he's dying or something,'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"Thanks for a great duel, Zane," said Jaden as he smiled at Zane.

Zane smiled in return. He then turned and started to walk away. Alexis and Rose looked at each other and run after him.

"Bye Jaden! Good job!' yelled Rose as she ran.

"Bye Rose!" yelled Jaden.

"So," started Alexis once Rose caught up to the two and walked on Zane's left side while Alexis was on his right, "what do you think?"

"I think Syrus chose great friends," he replied causing the two girls to smile at each other.


	8. Jaden and Syrus! Tag Duel

Episode(s): 10 – 11

"Let's sit with Bastion," said Rose to Alexis as the two girls walked around in the arena.

"The tag duel will begin in just a few moments," said the announcer, "and remember: these are test conditions! This is a sudden-expulsion match!"

"A tad harsh, I'd say," said Bastion in response.

"That's definitely true," said Rose as she and Alexis came to a stop next to wear Bastion was sitting.

"Huh?" said Bastion in confusion.

"You're Bastion Misawa, a friend of Jaden's, right?" asked Alexis as the two sat next to him. Rose sat next to Bastion on his left while Alexis sat next to her.

"I suppose you can say that," said Bastion as he looked at the two girls, "and your Alexis Rhodes, correct? And I already know Rose Heartfilia."

"Yeah," replied Alexis, "I'm also why they're in this mess."

"They were helping us at the abandoned dorm," said Rose as she looked at Bastion.

"I see," said Bastion as he turned to look forward.

"But now if there is anyone in need of help, it's them," said Alexis as the girls looked forward too.

"Did you hear that Crowler arranged for them to go against professional duelist? Tag team legends," said Rose in annoyance. **'Idiot of a teacher needs to learn not to go after his damn students.'**

"Send in the accused!" said the announcer. Syrus and Jaden then walked into the arena. "Syrus Truesdale and Jaden Yuki!"

"I hope they're going to be okay," said Alexis.

"Knowing Jaden, I have a feeling everything will work itself out," said Rose.

"You have a lot of fate in someone who is in the Slifer dorm," replied Bastion. Rose only shook her head.

"He's only in that dorm because Crowler doesn't like him."

"That's true," said Alexis with a laugh.

"Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce our guest tag team duo!" said Crowler to the crowed. "The Paradox brothers!"

Everyone gasped as the brothers flipped around the stage.

"I've studied these guys," said Alexis. "They're some kind of dueling mercenaries, not to mention the best tag duelist in the world!"

"Asshole of a teacher," said Rose in anger.

"Statistically speaking, I put Jaden's odds at winning this to be one in 50," said Bastion as he glared at Crowler. "I have to agree with you Rose."

"Duelist! Prepare to battle!" said Crowler as the two teams got ready.

"Let's see how this plays out," said Rose.

"Yeah," said the other two.

"The rules for this tag team duel are really quite simple. There is no sharing of strategy," started Crowler as he looked at Jaden and Syrus with a smirk. "No sharing of advice and no sharing of any card that is not yet in play. But you may use what's on your partners field. Understood?"

"Yeah," said the four males.

"Then duel!" yelled Crowler as he jumped off the stage.

"You got this boys," whispered Rose as the duel started.

"DUEL!" yelled the four.

After just a few minutes of watching the duel, the others were impressed.

"He sacrificed his brother's monster to summon a better one for the team," said Bastion, impressed. "Now that's tag dueling."

"Would you mind trying not to sound quite so impressed with them?" asked Alexis in annoyance.

"Let's hope the boys have something planned," said Rose. **'They better have something planned.'**

After hearing the brothers talk and duel, Rose began to get annoyed.

"Okay, one, how long do you think it took them to perfect that and two, when will they stop, it's getting annoying," said Rose in anger.

"Now, now Rose, calm down," said Bastion as he chuckled at her.

"But it's so weird!" said Rose as she pouted.

As the brothers played even stronger monsters, Bastion just had to make a comment.

"Now I place those odds at 500 to 1"

"What are the odds of you shutting up?" asked Rose with annoyance.

"Uhh," said Bastion in shock. "Sorry."

"Gate guardian?" said Alexis in shock.

"That's supposed to be their most powerful monster!" said Rose in shock as they then attacked Syrus.

"This isn't a duel. It's target practice for the Paradox brothers, and Sy's the bullseye," said Bastion in concern.

"He's just made a few bad moves, that's all. He'll turn things around," said Alexis. "At least I hope he does."

"Jaden's good, but he isn't good enough to do this by himself, at least not yet," said Rose, shocking the other two.

"You think he will be able to beat them by himself one day?" asked Bastion as he and Alexis turned to look at her.

"I don't see why not. I mean, I know he may not come out as the smartest person in the world, but when it comes to dueling, he's definitely one of the best."

"I can see what you mean," said Bastion after thinking it through.

"Anyway," started Rose with a sweat drop, "does anyone else find it kind of creepy that Crowler is watching this duel like he's about to jump someone?"

"He does look like he's having a little to good of a time down there," replied Bastion as he and Alexis looked at him.

"As long as his hands stay up there, I think we should be good."

"Ew. Why'd you have to say that," said Alexis as she shuddered.

"If I have to suffer with thinking it, then you have to too."

"How nice," said Bastion with a chuckle.

"I try," said Rose. "That's a lie, I'm not even trying."

"Anyway, the Gate Guardian on offense and that wall on defense? Almost flawless."

"We get it!" said Alexis, annoyed. "Now are you going to be quite or are we going to have to move?"

"Hehe," chuckled Rose. **'I really hope nothing gets to violent as I'm sitting between them. I knew I should have asked Zane to sit with us.'**

"You know, Sy's monster definitely remind me of him," said Bastion.

"Yeah."

"Small and cute," said Alexis as the two girls giggled and Bastion chuckled.

"Lets hope that Syrus thinks things through before he plays anything. I feel like he's starting to psych himself out."

"He's at 1,700 life points. I don't blame him," said Bastion.

"Attention Jaden Yuki," said the announcer, "it is your turn. You must make a move, or you will be disqualified."

"Well, it's two monsters to none," said Bastion as the three looked on. "That's a simple calculation to figure. they'll be knackered."

"How kind of you, Bastion," said Rose with annoyance.

"Now you're dogging them in words I can't even understand," said Alexis in anger.

"We have to believe that Jaden has some sort of strategy to get them through this. It's obvious that Syrus is a little to freaked out to think of anything at the moment."

"Oh, I'm certain that Jaden does. But we have to be concerned about Syrus. He's walked into every trap, spell, and attack that the Paradox brothers have played. He's been horrible," said Bastion, giving his honest opinion.

"You know, on second thought, I liked it better when I couldn't understand what you were saying," said Alexis as she looked like she was ready to hit Bastion.

 **'Note to self, don't piss Alexis off,'** thought Bastion as he looked at Alexis. He then glanced at Rose and sweat dropped **. 'Though, I think I should be more afraid of Rose.'**

 **'Idiot!'** thought Rose as she stared Bastion down. If looks could kill, Bastion would be dead.

"Sorry," said Bastion as he tried to smile at the two girls.

"Come on," said Rose as she looked back at the two boys. **'You guys got this!'**

"Is Crowler laughing to himself?" asked Alexis, causing the other two to look in the same direction.

"Creepy."

"Agreed," said Bastion with a grimace.

"I wonder what Jaden's obsession with superheroes is," wondered Alexis as Jaden played Sparkman.

"Same could be asked of you or me," said Rose.

"Well, that was certainly an odd choice," said Bastion. "Unless Jaden has something planned, I'm afraid he's waisted his move."

"They're at 1,200," said Rose after Syrus' attack.

"No way!" said Alexis after they beat their Gate Guardian. Everyone started cheering.

"Did you see that? Did you? Tell me you saw that?" said Bastion in shock.

"No," said Rose sarcastically, "I missed it. Of course, we saw that Bastion! We're sitting right here."

"Ahh."

"But you know what amazes me even more than them taking down that Gate Guardian?" asked Alexis. "The team work they used to do it with."

"That's what its going to take to win this!" said Rose in happiness. "YOU GO BOYS!"

"WE GOT THIS ROSE!" yelled Jaden in response as he waved at the purple haired girl.

"Let's hope they can keep up that team work," said Bastion as he smiled at Jaden waving at Rose.

"Why are they thanking them?" asked Alexis in worry as the brothers then summed their Dark Guardian.

"Invincible in battle and has those attack points?" asked Bastion in shock.

"Shit," said Rose in anger.

"That's it," said Bastion in fear and shock. "If this connects, Jaden and Syrus will lose."

"Jaden," said Rose in sadness and fear. **'Please, don't lose!'**

"He did it," said Alexis as Jaden managed to save their life points.

"Go Tempest!" said Rose as Jaden played the card.

"Fine creature, but it still can't beat their guardian," said Bastion.

"Bastion! Who's side are you on?" asked Rose after she smacked him on the back of the head.

"Sorry," said Bastion as he rubbed his head.

"I don't get it?" said Alexis after Jaden's attack. "Was he hopping for a tie?"

"He has his reasons?" asked Rose as Dark Guardian attack Tempest.

"They're sneaky ones. For Tempest to keep tying with Dark Guardian, Jaden will have to keep sacrificing cards."

"And whatever edge they give him," said Bastion.

"Shit! They're at 200!" said Rose in shock **. 'Come on! You guys got to win!'**

"We got this Sy!" yelled Jaden, shocking everyone.

"No way," said Alexis as Syrus played his cards right and managed to win the duel.

"Well, well, they won!" said Bastion in happiness. "I'm getting more impressed every day!"

"I'm just happy that Jaden gets to stay here!" said Rose with a smile.

"Oh? And what about Syrus?" asked Alexis with a smirk.

"Yes Rose. What about Syrus?" asked Bastion with a similar smirk.

"Well, I'm sure Zane is happy for Syrus, so I can be happy for Jaden," she replied as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away with a blush, causing the other two to laugh.

"Well, should we go and help Jaden with his report?" asked Rose as the three listen to Jaden go on and on about having to do a ten-page report.

"Perhaps we should," said Bastion as the three joined everyone else in clapping for the two boys.

 **'I'm happy that they both get to stay. I'm happier with Jaden staying, if he left, then things wouldn't be as interesting,'** thought Rose as she smiled at the two boys. "Lets go help Jaden before he has a panic attack."

"Yeah," said Alexis.

"That boy really needs to learn to put more time into his studies," said Bastion as the three moved. The two girls laughed.

"Then he wouldn't be Jaden," laughed Rose.

"True," said Bastion as they walked toward the arena.


	9. Formula for Success

Episode(s): 12

"Why do the boys get to play baseball? Why do we have to run?" complained Rose as she ran next to Alexis.

"Why are you complaining? You're two laps ahead of everyone!" yelled Alexis and some other girls.

"Doesn't mean I want to be doing it," grumbled Rose.

"Alright girls! You're done! Great job Rose!" said Miss Fontaine.

"Well, lets hit the showers!" said Alexis as she and the other went to the locker room.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"Ahh! That felt nice," said Mindy.

"Yeah! I can't believe you run so fast Rose!" said Jasmine.

"Yeah, I like to run when I need to think, but it doesn't mean I like to do it all the time," said Rose as she looked at Alexis who raised her hand in surrender.

"Got it," said Alexis. "Anyway, I have somethings to do, so I'll see you guys later!"

"Yeah, we have to work on a report for Crowler," said Mindy as her and Jasmine left.

"Well, best meet up with Bastion," said Rose once she was alone.

"Hey Rose!" said a voice. Rose turned around, only to see Chazz.

"What do you want Chazz?" asked Rose in annoyance.

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to hand with The Chazz," said Chazz with a smirk.

"No thank you. Besides, I promised Bastion I would help him with something. So later!" said Rose as she walked away.

"Bastion! That bastered! Not only do I have to duel him, but he's taking Rose too!" said Chazz in anger as he ran away.

 _ **~At the Ra Yellow Dorm~**_

"Now to just wait for Bastion," said Rose as she stood outside his room. As she stood there she heard talking coming closer.

"So, do you have a formula for everything Bastion?" asked Syrus.

"You bet he does," said Rose as she stood outside Bastion dorm room.

"Rose!" said the two Slifers in shock.

"You made it!" said Bastion in happiness.

"Always do Bastion!" said Rose with a smile as she went to hug her friend.

 **'They must be really good friends,'** thought Syrus as he looked at the two with a smile. He turned to Jaden to say something, only to freak out.

 **'Why are they hugging?'** thought Jaden in anger as he watched the two.

"Hey Syrus, Jaden!" said Rose as she went to hug the other two. She hugged Syrus first, who smiled and returned it, but he was quick to let go because of the look Jaden had given Bastion. She then moved on to Jaden, who immediately hugged her back and gave Bastion a look.

 **'Someone is jealous,'** thought Bastion with a sweat drop. "Shall we go?"

"Right," said Syrus as Rose and Jaden let go of each other.

The four walked to his room and Bastion opened it for them.

"And, here we are," said Bastion as he opened the door.

"And where is that?" asked the two Slifer reds. Every wall and even the ceiling was covered formulas.

"My lab, my workshop, my dorm room," said Bastion as he walked in. "That area is for traps. That's for spell cards. And that's for, well, you get it."

"Wow, you put even more from the last time I was here," said Rose as she looked around.

"You've been here before?" asked Jaden as he stared down Bastion. Rose's back was to him, so she didn't notice.

"Yeah. I come over every once and a while so that we can work on anything to do with math. Bastion is a great teacher!" said Rose as she smiled at said male. Not noticing that Jaden was glaring at him.

"Haha, yes. Would all of you like to help me paint over the walls?" asked Bastion as he gave everyone paint brushes.

"Sure!" said Syrus and Rose as they took some.

 **'Bastion,'** thought Jaden in anger as he took some as well.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"Check it out! I'm Michelangelo!" laughed Jaden. Causing the others to laugh.

"Be careful Jaden," said Rose as she watched Jaden who was on top of a ladder.

"Get it? 'Cause I'm painting on the ceiling!" laughed Jaden, till he fell and ended up hitting Syrus with his paint brush.

"What the!" yelled Syrus as he was hit. "You do realize that this means war, Jay."

"Now look Sy, it was an accident!" yelled Jaden as Syrus threw paint at him, only to hit Bastion.

"Hahahahaha," Jaden laughed at Bastion as Rose went to check on him.

"Bastion?" question Rose in concern as Bastion grabbed more paint.

"Funny, is it?" asked Bastion as he hit Jaden. Jaden then tried to hit him back causing all four of them to laugh.

 _ **~After getting cleaned up~**_

"I don't think I've ever had such a good time painting," said Jaden as he ate. "Hay, you're all right Bastion."

"Yeah, and so is Ra Yellow's food!" said Syrus.

"Oh! You flatter us," said Bastion. "But I heard Obelisk Blue has better food."

"That we do!" said Rose from where she sat next to Jaden.

"Wow, look at that lobster!" said Syrus as Bastion placed it down.

"The closest we get to lobster is our dorm cats' breath," said Jaden.

"Speaking about bottom dwellers, what was Crowler talking to you about?"

"He wants me to test about being an Obelisk," said Bastion with a smile.

"Really! That would be cool!" said Rose with a smile.

"Is that why you were cleaning up your dorm?" asked Jaden.

"You deserve it!" said Syrus.

"Again, you flatter me," said Bastion as the two boys continued to praise him.

"We can say we know you when!" said both boys.

"Thank you," said Bastion, flattered.

"Your welcome! Now if you will excuse us," said Jaden as the two stuffed their mouths.

"So, who are you dueling?" asked Rose as the two others were distracted.

"I don't know yet," said Bastion as he began to clean up with Roses help. "Anyway, we should really get you to your dorm, Rose."

"Yeah. You boys don't mind escorting me over there, do you boys?"

"No problem!" said all three as they got up.

"Then let's go!"

 _ **~Near The Girl Dorms~**_

"Thanks for walking me!" said Rose as she smiled at the three.

"Of course! My parents would be mad if I simply let a lady wonder home by herself," said Bastion.

"Yeah, you don't know what types of creeps are out there!" said Syrus.

"Like Chazz or Crowler," said Jaden with a shudder.

"True," laughed Rose. "Well let me give you guys a present!"

"You don't-" started Bastion, only to be cut off by Rose kissing his left cheek. He blushed in response. She then went and kissed Syrus on his right cheek which caused the teal haired boy to blush like crazy and nearly faint. She then moved on to Jaden who was looking at the other two boys from the corner of his eye. She kissed his left check and blushed once she pulled away. He blushed in response.

"Bye boys!" said Rose as she ran to her dorm.

"R-right! Good night!" yelled Bastion, still with a blush on his face.

"We-well, you can come stay with us tonight Bastion," said Syrus. "Right Jay? Jay? Jaden!"

Jaden was looking at where Rose had been with a blush and a goofy smile on his face.

"I think she might of broke him," said Bastion as he looked at Jaden.

"Maybe," said Syrus as he started to yell for Jaden.

'What?" said Jaden after a few minutes.

"Lets go back to our dorm," said Syrus.

"Yeah," said Jaden as he walked off.

"He's got it bad," said Bastion.

"Oh yeah," said Syrus as they followed him.

 _ **~The Next Day~**_

"I think I'm ready," said Rose as she walked out of the dorm rooms.

"That's good," said a male voice.

"Huh?" question Rose as she turned to her left to see Zane and Alexis there.

"We were waiting," said Alexis with a smile.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting!" said Rose as she walked up to them. Zane turned to go, and the two girls followed behind him.

"Rose, there is something we need to tell you," said Zane.

 _ **~At the Arena~**_

"Then he must have been the one that tossed your cards!" declared Jaden.

"Pardon?" questioned Crowler in shock.

"I don't know what he's talking about, Dr. Crowler, I didn't do a thing," said Chazz.

"Oh? Is that so?" said Rose as she, Zane, and Alexis walked into the arena.

"Zane? Alexis? Rose?" question Jaden as everyone turned to look at them.

"I saw you, Chazz," said Alexis. "This morning, by the water. You dumped them in and ran off."

Everyone gasped in shock and Crowler looked somewhat annoyed. Weather it was because a student sabotage another or because and Obelisk got caught, no one could tell.

"I normally wouldn't snitch, but you don't mess with someone's deck."

"Yeah, no joke! That's low for even you!" said Jaden in anger.

"Aw, come on," said Chazz in defense. "Who's to say I wasn't throwing away my own cards? I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks, that's all."

"Liar!"

"No one calls me a liar, and no one calls me a thief!"

"Fine, then you're not! Let's just have our duel, shall we?" said Bastion in anger.

"But how?" asked Jaden in shock.

"A good duelist always has a spare deck. Or a few of them," said Bastion as he messed with his jacket. "After all, you saw all my different formulas. Well they were for all my different dueling decks!"

He opened his jacket to show six different decks. Everyone was shocked except for Rose who knew about it.

"And each one of this is as powerful as the next!"

"Yeah, well you can go and have your six stinking decks! 'Cause all I need is one!" said Chazz. "Now let's start this!"

"I thought you would never ask, Chazz."

"You got this Bastion!" said Rose, trying to encourage her friend.

 **'Why is she cheering him! She should be cheering for me in a cute cheer uniform,'** thought Chazz as his imagination went wild.

 **'Bastion,'** thought Jaden. He couldn't tell if he should be annoyed or happy since Rose was cheering for their friend.

"Hope you're ready, 'cause here comes the hurt!" yelled Chazz as he drew a card. "I summon Chthonian Solder! Then, a card facedown and that'll do for now."

"Oh, will it now?" asked Bastion as he drew a card.

"Sounds like Bastion's got something up his sleeve," said Jaden.

"He works quickly," said Alexis.

"That's Bastion for you," said Rose.

"I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode!" said Bastion. "Rise, Hydrogeddon! Now, attack Chthonian Soldier with Hydro Gust! Destroy him!"

Chazz's life points went down to 3,600.

"Thanks, you just activated my Chthonian Soldier's special ability! It causes you to take the same amount of damage to your life points that I did!" said Chazz as Bastion's life points went down to 3,600.

"Not bad," said Zane.

"Bastion sure walked right into that one," said Jaden.

"He has a plan, he always does," said Rose with a smirk.

"I activate a special ability also," said Bastion. "You see, Chazz, when Hydrogeddon successfully destroys a monster in battle, I'm allowed to immediately summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck! So, rise! Hydrogeddon! And, my battle phase still continues. Which means I can now wage a direct attack against you, Chazz!

"So, go, Hydrogeddon! Hydro Gust!" yelled Bastion as his attack hit and brought Chazz's life points to 2,000.

"Hey guys, I've been wondering," started Rose as she saw Chazz get back up after an attack from Bastion.

"What is it Rose?" asked Syrus.

"How come everyone acts as if they are actually getting physically hit when they aren't?"

"Uhh?' said Syrus, Jaden, and Alexis as they tried to think about it.

"Its because everyone gets caught up in the moment," replied Zane as he watched the duel.

"Hmm," said Rose as she started to smirk. "Its funny watching everyone look like they were about to die."

 **'Why do she have a smirk,'** thought Syrus in fear.

 **'Scary,'** thought Alexis in fear.

 **'I don't think I should get her mad,'** though Jaden in fear as he backed up a little.

 **'Note to self, don't leave Rose with anyone who angers her,'** thought Zane as he looked at the shorter girl.

"I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted," said Chazz. "With it, I can summon one monster from my graveyard! And the monster I summon is Chthonian Soldier! Next, I'll activate the spell card Inferno Reckless Summon. It allows us both to summon in attack mode any monster from our deck, hand, and graveyard that are the same as the monsters we already have on the field."

"It makes no sense," said Alexis. "It doesn't matter how many of those Chazz brings out, they still won't have enough attack points to beat those Hydrogeddons."

"Not by themselves they won't," replied Zane.

"I activate the equip spell card Chthonian Alliance!" said Chazz as he played his card. "The monster equipped with this card gains 800 attack points for every monster that has the same name as him. That brings his attack point total to. Well, you're the math nerd. You can figure it out! Attack Chthonian Soldier!"

The attack caused Bastion's life points to go down to 1,600.

"Oh no!" said Jaden.

"Don't worry about Bastion," said Rose after Chazz attacked Bastion. "He knows what he's doing!"

"Bravo. Good show," said Bastion as he drew a card, "but it will be short-lived! Rise Oxygeddon! Now attack the 1,200 attack points Chthonian Soldier with Vapor Stream!"

"Forget?" asked Chazz as his life points went down to 1,400. "When my Soldier's destroyed, you take the same damage as me! Some whiz kid you are!"

"My turns not through!" said Bastion as his life points went down to 1,000. "Next, my Hydrogeddon attacks another of your Soldiers!"

"That damage is still all going back to you, loser!" said Chazz as his life points went down to 1,000.

"Aw man, why does he keep attacking?" said Syrus as Bastion's life points went down to 600. "He's only hurting himself."

"Nah, he's fine!" said Jaden with a smile.

"Bastion's playing smart," said Zane with a smile. "The Chthonian Soldier with the equip magic card has 3,600 attack points. Bastion would have to summon an incredibly powerful monster to destroy him. Unless, however. . ."

"Wait! I see!" said Syrus in happiness. "Unless he takes out the other Chthonians and lowers the big one's attack points!"

"Right Sy, so if Bastion's going to beat that thing, he's got to give up some life points," said Jaden.

"Bastion always has a plan, no matter what," said Rose with a smile.

"Last, I'll place a facedown card! And that will do for now," said Bastion.

"Wil it?" asked Chazz. "I wouldn't be so sure Whiz-kid. I'm sacrifice Chthonian Soldier and all the cards in my hand in order to summon Infernal Incinerator!" laughed Chazz like a mad man. "Didn't you see that coming, did you?"

"Infernal Incinerator?" asked Bastion in shock.

"Better break out your calculator 'cause if you can't find a formula to beat this guy this turn, you're toast!" laughed Chazz. "Face it, Bastion. You don't stand a chance against the Infernal Incinerator! Especially since his attack points increase by 200 for every monster you have out on the field!"

"That thing has 3,400 attack points? That means no matter which monster receives the attack, Bastion is finished!" said Jaden in shock.

"Now, Infernal Incinerator attack with Firestorm Blast!" said Chazz as is monster attacked.

"Bastion!" yelled Jaden and Rose.

"I activate my trap," said Bastion. "Amorphous Barrier! When I have three or more monsters on my side of the field, this trap negates my opponent's attack and ends the battle. But nice try, Chazz."

"Aw, so what?" asked Chazz with a smirk. "One turn. That's all it buys you, then you'll be all mine!"

"I'm afraid there won't be a next turn," said Bastion.

"What?"

"You heard me. And I activate the spell card Bonding H2O! I sacrifice two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon and summon Water Dragon! And since the number of monsters on my side of the field decreased, your Infernal Incinerator's attack points decrease.

"Doesn't matter, my monster's attack points are still higher than yours," said Chazz.

"Better double-check your work. Because I've already done all the math!" said Bastion with a smirk.

"All the math?" question Crowler in shock.

"Bastion's had all of this planned out from the very start?" said Jaden in shock as a tidal wave hit Chazz's monster.

"No, his attack points!" yelled Chazz.

"Indeed, that's Water Dragon's special ability!" explained Bastion. "You see, when he's out on the field, the attack points of Fire Attribute and Pyro-Type monsters automatically become zero. Now, Water Dragon, attack! Tidal Blast!

"A well-played duel, Chazz," said Bastion after winning, "but not well enough."

"Pure luck! You drew a lucky card and stumbled into the win!" said Chazz in anger. "That's all!"

"Perhaps. But luck favors the prepared. And I was prepared to beat you with a half dozen other cards, as well. Sorry. You would have lost the duel one way or another. But deny it if you want. Just like you denied throwing my deck into the ocean."

"Yeah? Prove it!"

"Well, if you insist," said Bastion as he took something out of his pocket. "Here, a card I fished out. With a formula I wrote on it. I supposed you could've written it, but then the math would've probably been wrong, and it's not.

"Chazz, you stole, you lied, you cheated, you lost. You deserve to be demoted."

"This can't be," said Chazz in shock and denial.

"Bastion Misawa! Congratulations and welcome to Obelisk Blue!" said Crowler in happiness.

"No," said Bastion, shocking everyone. "I must decline that indentation."

"What? But what for?"

"When I first entered the academy, I decided I would only enter Obelisk Blue when I became the number one student in the freshman class," said Bastion as he turned to Jaden. "Jaden, of all the new freshman, I think that student is you."

"Hey! Thanks! Dose that mean you want to settle this right here?" asked Jaden in excitement. "I mean, seeing you guys duel really made me want to get my game on!"

"Sorry, but not now."

"But why not?"

"Because I have a lot of work to do before I duel you. Many formulas to write, theorems to solve, equations to balance. You're a good duelist Jaden and I plan to be ready."

"Smart move!"

"He didn't have to prepare for me! He won with just one day's notice!" said Chazz in anger.

"Don't worry Jaden, soon my dorm room walls will be filled with new strategies and we will have our duel. Just be prepared for it to turn out like that ball game. You know, the one where I struck you out?"

"You just keep dreamin', Bastion! Baseball's a pastime, but dueling is my life! Until then pal!" said Jaden in happiness.

"Alright, until then it is!"

"Those two are fired up for sure," said Rose with a laugh.

"Yup," said Syrus with a sweat drop. "I hope they don't go to crazy."


	10. Courting Rose

Episode(s): 15

"Alright class! Get your game on! Tennis game that is!" said Miss Fontaine.

"Come on, would someone tell me what in the world tennis has to do with dueling?" asked Jaden in annoyance.

"Everything!" said Mindy. "Taking turns, thinking on your feet, and the harder you play, the better you do!"

"Well, in that case," said Jaden as he hit the ball as hard as he could. The only problem is that it went to his right instead of straight, head right for Rose who was teamed up with Alexis.

"Shit! Rose, head's up!"

"What?" said Rose in shock unable to move fast enough to block. Luckily for her, someone else was able to block it for her. Though, he did end up hitting Crowler in the face with it.

"Thank you," said Rose in gratitude.

"Rose are you okay?" asked Alexis as Mindy and Jasmine showed up.

"That ball almost creamed you," said Jasmine.

"yeah, would you like me to carry you to the nurse," said the guy that saved Rose in an arrogant voice.

"That's okay, thanks though," said Rose with a sweet smile.

'That's Rose Heartfilia,' thought the boy to himself.

"Uh? Do you need me to carry you to the nurse?" asked Rose as the boy started at her with a blush. **'Does he have a fever?'**

"No, I'm good. I just know you from Obelisk Blue, I've seen you around," said the boy as he grabbed her hand, "Not that I've ever had the pleasure of talking to you."

"Kay?" said Rose, creeped out with him.

"Let alone touch you. Anyway," said the boy as he backed up, "Back to my match. What was the score?"

"Love something I think," said another boy.

"That was weird," said Alexis.

"Yeah," said Rose as she rubbed her hand on her shorts.

"Good thing he left," grumbled Jaden.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! I'm just glad you're okay!"

 _ **~Some Time Later~**_

"Rose!" called Jasmine as she walked toward said girl in the locker room.

"We found out who that hot tennis guy is for you," said Mindy.

"What are you they talking about?" asked Rose to Alexis who was at the locker next to her. Alexis just shrugged.

"Anyway, he's a total catch!"

"Now try to stay calm," started Jasmine.

"Trust me, I'm calm," said Rose in annoyance as Alexis giggled.

"His name is Harrington Rosewood. As in Rosewood sporting goods, and they've got stores everywhere and he's the heir. Plus, he's a third year Obelisk Blue!"

"And?" said Rose with a raised eyebrow.

"An older guys who's rich and a hottie? That's boyfriend material, so go and get him!" said Mindy with excitement.

"Girls, I'm just not interested in him," said Rose with annoyance.

"Besides, if she married him her name would be Rose Rosewood, sounds kind of weird to me," said Alexis.

"Aw man. Aw man. Aw man. Aw man," cried Syrus as he ran around. "Where's the lousy tennis team?"

"What's with super spazz over there?" asked Mindy.

"Don't know. Don't care," said Jasmine.

"Rose, do you know where the tennis team meets?" asked Syrus to his friend.

"At the courts," said Rose with a 'are you serious' face.

"What's wrong?" asked Alexis.

"What's wrong? Everything's wrong," said Syrus as he ran.

"Care to be more specific, Sy?' asked Jasmine

"No questions! He'll only come back," said Mindy.

"it's the most unfair thing ever," said Syrus as he came back. "Dr. Crowler is letting the tennis captain boss Jaden around as punishment for hitting him with that ball."

"How's that the most unfair thing ever?" asked Alexis.

"'Cuz the captain's the guy who really hit Crowler!"

"Who's the captain?" asked Mindy.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"And done!" said Jaden as he fell over after hitting the ball. "With the first round."

"Hi Rose!" said Mindy as she saw Rose holding the ball Jaden had just hit.

"Rose?" question Harrington with a smile.

"Hmph," went Rose as she started to walk forward.

"hey there!" said Harrington as he walked up to her. "Sorry I'm sweating so much. I've just been kicking this guy's –"

"Jaden, you won't believe what I've just heard," said Rose, talking to Jaden and ignoring Harrington. "I was on my way here and I ran into Professor Banner. He told me someone's spotted Chazz."

"No kidding. Well, where is he?" asked Jaden as he stood up to talk face to face with Rose.

"Someone like Jaden talking to a princess like Rose? No fucking way!" said Harrington in anger. "Hey! Time out!"

"What?" said Rose in shock as she and Jaden turned to look at Harrington.

"You can't talk to someone like Alexis! You can't even play tennis right! So, stay away from my little Obelisk Pixie!"

 **'Why the fuck is he giving me/her a pet name?'** thought both Rose and Jaden in annoyance.

"Listen, Jaden, I'm warning you. Just step away from the beautiful girl. You're way out of your league. Don't make me go athletic on you," said Harrington with fire blazing around him and in his eyes.

"We're talking here," said Jaden, annoyed. **'Who the hell is he to tell me not to talk Rose?'** "You were saying Rosie?"

"ROSIE!?" said Harrington appearing between Rose and Jaden, freaking them out. "What is that? Some kind of pet name? Where'd it come from? What does it mean? What's it short for?"

"Rose," said Jaden, unimpressed.

"Sure, you'd like me to believe that, wouldn't you? Well, I don't. I don't believe anything you say. Which is why this little huddle is over!"

"Great, so then beat it!"

"No way bro! Know your sports. When a huddle is over, you make your play, you don't run away!"

"I get it, you want a tennis match," said Jaden annoyed **. 'Can this idiot just leave us alone!'**

"No way! I want a duel! Winner become Rose's fiancé!"

"What! Fiancé? Slow down!" said Rose in shock.

"I just love weddings!" said Mindy in happiness.

"Yeah, but I'm not so sure about arranged ones," said Jasmine.

"I'm happy its her and not me," said Alexis.

"I don't agree with the stakes since it makes us take away Rose's choice, but I'm always down to duel!" said Jaden with a smirk. **'Though I wouldn't mind being her fiancé.'**

"Two cutie pie boys dueling it out for your hand in marriage!" said Mindy once Rose got to the others on the side lines. "How do you feel?"

"Please Mindy, I'm not getting married," said Rose pissed.

"Oh fine, 'engaged,'" laughed Jasmine.

"I'm not getting engaged Jazz! The only reason I haven't walked out of here yet is to see if the rumors are true," said Rose.

"To see if Harrington is really as good as Zane?" asked Alexis as Rose nodded.

"Service!" said Harrington as he drew a card. "First, I'm gonna volley a spell card at you: Service Ace."

"A spell card already?" asked Jaden.

"You got that right, and just like a power serve, it's gonna make you sweat. Here's how it works. I pick a card. Then you have to choose if it's a spell, trap, or monster. If you guess right, you're fine. But if you guess wrong, well then you get served with a stinging 1,500 points of damage."

"So, I just guess?" asked Jaden with a smile.

"wow, this really is making Jaden sweat," said Syrus.

"Yeah, and hum, too," said Mindy.

"Look at you," said Harrington with a swat drop. "I bet this is probably the best workout you've had all week long."

"Alright, I'll guess," said Jaden in annoyance. "It's a spell card!"

"You sure? You can still change your mind, ya know."

"Then wait," said Jaden as he freaked out and changed his guess.

"Monster," said Harrington with a smug smirk. "Looks like we've found another thing you're bad at, huh? Anyway, now we'll put this card away and let loose the bid stroke. Service Ace! Good luck returning this shot, pal!"

"His talking is even more annoying then with the Paradox brothers," said Rose with her eye twitching as Jaden's life points went down to 2,500.

"Agreed," said Jasmine, Syrus, and Alexis.

"I think it's cute," said Mindy.

"He keeps throwing tennis references where they don't belong," said Alexis as she looked at her friend as Harrington place a card facedown.

"Your serve," said Harrington as he smirked at Jaden.

"Yeah, and I'd better make it count," said Jaden as he drew a card. "Elemental Hero Avian! Now Avian, show Harrington why you're the real king court. Quill Cascade!"

"Don't think so, birdbrain. I activate Receive Ace. This trap card negates your attack then deal 1,500 damage points directly to you. Good luck feathering this storm. Though I do have to pay 3 cards because of the trap I played."

"Jaden's at 1,000 life points!" said Syrus freaking out.

 **'You better not lose Jaden!'** thought Rose as she glared at Harrington.

 **'My love is looking at me!'** he thought with hearts in his eyes.

 **'No way am I losing to this freak,'** thought Jaden as he threw down a facedown.

"Boy, you are lazy, aren't you?" asked Harrington with a smirk. "Hey bro, that's fine! Makes it that much easier for me. I play Smash Ace. It let's me flip the top card on my deck, and if it's a monster-"

"Lemme guess, I get nailed, right?" asked Jaden in annoyance.

"Hey, you're starting to get the swing of this, huh? And you will be getting swung at," said Harrington as he grabbed the first card on his deck. "Oh yeah! A monster!

"Lady luck, she hates me," said Jaden as he rubbed his head. **'She better not be costing me Rose!'**

"Well, she loves me. Of course, most girls do," said Harrington arrogantly. "Now get ready for Smash Ace!"

"JADEN! YOU BETTER WIN!" yelled Rose in anger as Harrington talked about how all girls love him.

"My Obelisk Pixie! I will win for you!" said Harrington as he played his ace card.

"She wasn't talking to you!" yelled everyone else.

"Sorry, but I'm activating my facedown card!" said Jaden as the attack was directed toward the spectators.

"No way!" yelled Harrington.

"Sorry pal, but your ace just got blown right out of bounds."

"Well, you know what they say: You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you've got to take hits to give 'em," laughed Harrington.

"Great, he's back on his cliché kick," groaned Jaden. Then the two started laughing.

"This is weird now," said Alexis.

"Just a little," said Rose with a sweat drop. The two then got back to dueling.

"Polymerization! Fuse Clayman and Burstinatrix into the Elemental Hero Rampart Burster!" said Jaden.

"All right!" said Syrus. "That's how you duel, Jaden!"

"Like that?" said Jaden as he sent his monster to attack. He lowered Harrington's life points from 4,000 to 1,000.

"Way to go Jaden!"

"Well, at least they stopped laughing," said Rose.

"Got any Clichés to say now?" asked Jaden.

"I suppose," said Harrington as he drew a card, "but I'll let my cards do the talking for me. See this one says it all. Deuce!"

"Another spell card?" asked Jaden as he scratched his cheek.

"That's right, but I guarantee you've never seen on like this before. I can only activate it when we both have 1,000 life points. And here's how it works."

"Why is he fixing his hair?" asked Alexis as Harrington explained his spell card.

"Who knows. Who cares," replied Rose and Jasmine.

"He's so dreamy!" said Mindy.

"I summon The Big Server!" said Harrington. "The reason his serve is so big is because it strikes directly at your life points. Now, Big Server, attack with Spiked Serve."

The attack nocked down Jaden's life points to 600.

"Rose will be mine!" said Harrington after he attacked Jaden. "Oh, and by the way, The Big Server has a special ability that lets me take Service Ace from my deck and place it in my hand. You get a new card too, but it won't matter. I mean, let's be real here. There's no way it'll be as good as this one. How could it be? Now draw your card."

Jaden drew his card and had no facial express, leaving everyone wondering what he drew.

"All right, and now I'm serving up the spell card Service Ace," said Harrington.

 **'It comes down to this. Jaden, please don't lose,'** thought Rose. **'I don't want to talk to the wierdo, let alone be his fiancé!'**

 **'I hope I guess right!'** thought Jaden. "I guess you drew a monster card!"

"You guess right," said Harrington in annoyance.

"Sweetness."

"Yeah, we're still in it!" said Syrus in happiness.

"Why are you saying that? You're not playing," asked Rose.

"Oh yeah?" asked Harrington. "Tell me if you still think you're in it after this! I play Giant Racket and equip it to Big Server. So, ya still in it?"

"To win it," said Jaden with a smile. "I can take that server guy down."

"Maybe, but you won't be able to do it on your first try. See, when a monster is equipped with Giant Racket, it has a onetime power that allows it to turn any battle damage to zero."

"Wait, and since your Deuce only allows me to attack with one monster per turn, I won't be able to destroy him," said Jaden in shock. "Big Server can't be beat by one attack."

"Exactly right," said Harrington with a smug look. "So, as you can see, you're not in it, you're not all over it, you're just about to lose it."

"Here we go, draw!" yelled Jaden as he drew a card. "Sweet! The ball's in my court now. First, I activate the spell card Diffusion. With it, I'll defuse Rampart Blaster. Now I have three monsters on the field, Which means even if you block my first attack, I can still hit you with two more."

"Then you'll lose the duel," said Harrington arrogantly. "I'm starting to see why you're ranked as a Slifer, because you don't listen. As long as my spell card is out, you can only attack with one monster per turn. It doesn't matter if you have three."

"I'm starting to see why you're a snobby Obelisk," laughed Jaden.

"What?"

"'Cuz you really underestimate your opponents. I play the spell card Feather Shot. It lets Avian attack once for every monster I have on the field," said Jaden with a smirk. "I drew this card when you activated The Big Server's special effect. Remember what you said?

"Yeah, well, guess what? It mattered! Go Avian! Attack with Quill Cascade times three!

"Well, that settles that!" said Jasmine with a smile.

"He's getting married!" yelled Syrus in happiness.

"Syrus," said Alexis.

"I mean, someday he will, maybe?"

"Rosie?" said Mindy.

"This can't be!" said Harrington in denial.

"That's game!" cheered Jaden.

"But she was my soulmate! My first draft pick! My marquee girlfriend!" he cried as he then ran away.

 **'What the hell?'** thought Jaden with a sweat drop.

"Wow, you had to work for that one, Jaden," said Syrus as the group walked up to him.

"Hey, no pain, no gain," said Jaden as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Speaking of gain, has Jaden gained a wife?" asked Alexis as she smirked at Rose.

"So romantic!" said Mindy.

"Well Rose, guess I'm your fiancé," said Jaden as he walked toward Rose.

"Is he actually going through with it?" asked Syrus in shock.

"Oh my!" said Jasmine as she clapped her hands together.

"Do I have to get you a ring?" asked Jaden with a laugh.

"I don't think we need to worry about that for now," laughed Rose.

"Let's go guys," said Alexis as she walked out, leading the others with Jaden and Rose in the back.

"Hey Jaden," said Rose causing Jaden to stop and turn to look at her.

"Yeah?" said Jaden, but he was shocked when Rose kissed him on the lips.

"Consider that my thanks, and we'll see about anything in the future," said Rose with a blush and wink. She then ran.

"She kissed me," said Jaden as he blushed. **'So, I have a chance to actually be her fiancé?'**

"Hold up guys!" yelled Jaden when he noticed everyone was leaving him behind.


	11. VS Yugi's Deck

Episode(s): 18 – 19

"Did you hear?" asked Mindy.

"Hear what?" asked Rose.

"About Yugi Moto's deck? It's going to be here on display!"

"Yeah, I already got tickets for it," said Rose like it was no big deal.

"She's more interested in Lilly Kaiba's deck," said Alexis.

"Isn't that one on display too?" asked Jasmine.

"It is!" said Rose with sparkles in her eyes.

"I can't wait!" said Jasmine.

"So, is Lilly really your idol?" asked Mindy.

"Yeah! I love her dueling style and how kind she is!" said Rose with a smile.

"It also helps that she is like Cinderella, but instead of the evil step mom and sisters, she got two new stepbrothers and an awesome boyfriend!" said Alexis.

"Yugi Moto!" said the for girls as the giggled.

"Anyway, I have a report to work on," said Alexis as she started to walk toward the dorms.

"I have homework," said Mindy in defeat.

"Same," said Jasmine as they fallowed Alexis.

"Rose," said a male voice. Rose turned around to see Zane standing by a tree.

"Hi Zane!" said Rose as she walked up to him.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to see Yugi's and Lilly's deck tonight," said Zane with a smirk.

"You want to sneak in?" said Rose as she raised her eyebrow.

"Yes."

"I'm down!" said Rose with a smile.

"Then I'll see you tonight.

 _ **~That night~**_

"Rose, you ready to go?" asked Zane as he stood outside the girls' dorm.

"Yeah," said Rose as she walked up to him. The two then walked to where Yugi's and Lilly's decks were being held.

"So, what's the chances of someone stealing them?" asked Rose.

"With the decks being the King and Queen of Games, high," said Zane as they neared the museum, only to see Crowler freaking out. "And it looks like it has already happened."

"Well we better go look for them," said Rose as the two went to Crowler to ask what happened. Once they found out everything, they went looking around.

"So apparently Jaden and his friends went to stop them," said Zane.

"Hmm. Makes sense," said Rose as the two walked around. They then came upon the duel about to start between Jaden and Ra Yellow student Dimitri.

"Well, we best watch," said Rose as the two stooped to watch the duel that was about to start.

"Alright, here I come!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "First off, I play Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in defense mode. And that'll do."

"Wil it?" asked Dimitri. "I fuse Gazelle, The King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet to create Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast!"

"Why dose he change his voice?" asked Rose to Zane.

"Who knows," said Zane.

"Looks like more people are here."

"Hmm."

"Uh-oh," said Jaden. "This isn't gonna be pretty."

"Now go. Attack! Pulverizing Pounce!" said Dimitri.

"Do you think we will see Kariboh?" asked Rose with starts in her eyes. Zane just chuckled.

"Perhaps," he said to her.

"Fucking Bastion owes me a Winged Kariboh plushie!" cried out Rose as she looked at the duel.

"I know the exhibit is selling a regular Kariboh one, we can get it tomorrow."

"Really?" asked Rose with pure happiness.

"Yes," chuckled Zane as he patted her on the head. "Now let's watch."

"Alright!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "So, you like fusing monsters, do you? Well, then, you'll love this! Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman combine to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!

"And now I'm gonna use his special ability! It let's me destroy a monster whose original attack points are less than his own."

"Nice ability! Now, let me show you mine!" yelled Dimitri "When Chimera's destroyed, I'm allowed to summon back Berfomet from the graveyard."

"Yeah, well he won't be back for very long!" cried Jaden "Thunder Giant, attack! Voltic Thunder!"

"Who do you think will win?" asked Rose with curiosity.

"I'm not sure, Yugi's deck is legendary," said Zane.

"But Yugi isn't the one using it."

"True. We will have to see if Dimitri knows how to play his cards right."

"Alright. For my turn, I place one card facedown and play this: Monster Reincarnation," said Dimitri. "Now, by discarding one card, I get back one monster from my graveyard, Gazelle, The King of Mythical Beasts, return!

"And now, I activate the magic card, Swords of Revealing Light!"

"Hey, what's happening?" asked Jaden.

 **'How does he not know about this card?** ' thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"Not your attacks, that's what! For three turns, your monsters are useless," said Dimitri.

"Three turns?!" yelled Jaden.

"You should really make him study," said Zane to Rose.

"Why me?" asked Rose.

"Because he's scared of you," said Zane as he looked on **. 'He also happens to have the biggest crush on you.'**

"Fine," said Rose in defeat.

"I gotta find a way to break that spell!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "Go, Dark Catapulter!"

"Dark Catapulter has the ability to destroy that spell card," said Zane impressed.

"I have a trap card out: Dark Renewal, it activates when you make a summoning." Said Dimitri. "Now, by sacrificing one of your monsters as well as one of my own, I can bring back a spell-caster monster from the graveyard!"

"It's too bad you don't have any there then," said Jaden. "By my count, the only two monsters in your grave are Chimera and Berfromet."

"Then you may want to double-check your work. Remember when I played Monster Reincarnation?"

"Smart move," said Zane.

"Now, to bring back that spell-caster," said Dimitri as his coffin showed up. "Alright, Gazelle and Catapulter, make some room for the one, the only, my friend, Dark Magician!"

"No way!" said Rose in shock.

"Amazing," said Zane in shock. "That's Yugi's trump card. It's said to have gotten him out of a lot of situations."

 **'How odd,'** thought Rose a she looked at The Dark Magician, **'he looks angry.'**

In response to her thoughts, Rose Guardian appeared behind her, getting Dark Magician's attention. He then glanced at Rose who looked back at him in shock.

"Well, Thunder Giant," said Jaden after he got over his star-struck state, "you may not be able to attack yet, but you can still defend! And that's exactly what I'm going to have you do, buddy! You're go Dimitri."

"That's Yugi," said Dimitri.

"Do we need to get him help?" asked Rose.

"Hopefully not," replied Zane.

"I choose to play the magic card Thousand Knives!" said Dimitri. "And when I activate it with Dark Magician on the field, they can be used to destroy any one of your monsters!

"Let's see how you like getting struck by your star! Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!"

 _"He doesn't want to do it,"_ said a voice. Rose turned to see Rose Guardian _. "He is angry he is being forced to fight with someone who is acting like Yugi."_

"That makes sense," mumbled Rose as she saw how Dark Magician attacked Jaden and reduce his life points to 1,500.

"Give up?" asked Dimitri.

"NEVER!" yelled Jaden.

"That's the spirit! Never give up," said Dimitri as he started to give Jaden a pep talk. Jaden just gritted his teeth and drew a card.

"Wroughtwiler in defensive mode. And that's it."

"He might have a plan," said Zane as they watched on. "The question is if he can get the cards he needs to execute it."

"Did you forget? With swords of Light out, you still can't attack," said Dimitri. "But I can! Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!"

"Hey, congrats!" said Jaden as his monster was attacked. You've just activated Wrouvhtweiler's special ability! You see, once he's sent to the graveyard, I get to bring back an Elemental Hero and Polymerization."

"Way to play!" said Dimitri with a smile.

"Good play! You really show promise," said Dimitri.

"This is getting weird," said Rose.

"It past weird a long time ago," replied Zane.

"This guy is really starting to bug me!" said Jaden as he grabbed a card. "Rise, Burstinatrix! Then I'm gonna throw down a facedown and call it a turn."

"It's been three turns," said Zane as the Swords of Revealing Lite disappeared.

"Jaden," said Rose as she watched on. **'You need to win this, Dark Magician and more than likely, the others, don't want to be dueling right now.'**

"Dark Magician, attack Hero Burstinatrix!" yelled Dimitri.

"Not so fast, Dimitri!" yelled Jaden in return. "I played a trap: A Hero Emerges! And it activates as soon as you declare an attack!

"Now, you have to pick a card at random from my hand," said Jaden as he showed his hand, "and if it's a monster, I get to summon it to the field! Now choose!"

"So be it," said Dimitri as he pointed at a card. "I choose, the far left."

"Good choice," said Jaden as he grabbed the card, "for me that is! Come on out, Bladedge!"

"Go Jaden," said Rose as she watched.

"The Dark Magician is the strongest monster card in my deck, but as a duelist, you must know that it's rarely just about the card its what you do with it," laughed Dimitri. "And what I'm going to do is play this: Dedication Through Light and Darkness. It takes Dark Magician and turns him into something even more powerful!"

 **'He looks scared,'** thought Rose as she watched the Dark Magician get absorbed. **'I hope this duel ends soon.'**

"The legendary: Dark Magician of Chaos!" said Dimitri with a smirk. "I'm about to unleash him on you, Jaden! Chaos Magician, rise!

"Now, just by successfully summoning him I'm allowed to bring one magic card from my graveyard to my hand. Oh, and in case you haven't done the math yet, Bladedge doesn't have the most attack points anymore. Chaos Magician does!"

"2,800?!" yelled Jaden in shock.

"Yes! Now, watch them all in action! Scepter Strike!" yelled Dimitri as his monster attack, reducing Jaden's life points down to 1,300. "Just face it this deck and I fit perfectly. Always have and always will!"

"This doesn't look good for Jaden," said Zane as he and Rose watched on along with all the other students who showed up.

"I'm sure he has a plan," replied Rose **. 'At least I hope he does. Dimitri still has 4,000 life points.'**

"My turn!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "Alright then. I play my pal Winged Kuriboh!"

"So cute!" squealed Rose.

 **'Note to self, buy Rose the Kuriboh tomorrow,'** thought Zane.

"And while he's chilliin' in defense mode, I'll also throw down a facedown!" said Jaden, In response Dimitri played Kuriboh.

"KURIBOH!" said Rose with hearts in her eyes. Zane just glanced at her with a sweat drop.

 **'Definitely should get her the toy after this,'** thought Zane as he looked back at the duel.

"But first things first Jaden, Dark Magician of Chaos, attack Burstinatrix!" said Dimitri as his monster attacked.

"Ha! I've got a trap! Super Junior Confrontation!" said Jaden as he revealed his card. "Yeah, I know what you're thinkin'. Sounds kinds weak, doesn't it? Well, that's just the point, this trap calls of your Magician's attack and forces both of our weakest monsters to do battle, weakest in points, that is. So, it's gonna be your Kuriboh against mine!"

"How cute!" said Rose.

"Ha. You got off easy, but next turn you won't," said Dimitri as he placed a card facedown. "I end with a face down."

"My go!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "And I play Pot of Greed! It lets me draw two cards."

He grabbed two cards and looked at them with a smirk, "and they're two sweet ones! Hope ya like playin' with bubbles cuz I'm summonin' Elemental Hero Bubbleman! And I'll play a field spell one ya might need a hard hat for! Skyscraper!"

"Good job Jaden," said Rose.

"What the? What's the meaning of these buildings?!" said Dimitri in shock as building grew around him.

"Here, an Elemental Hero gains a thousand attack points if it's weaker than the monster it's attacking!" explained Jaden.

"But that would mean that," said Dimitri in shock.

"You're in trouble! Especially since I'm gonna play this too: The equip spell Bubble Blaster! And this thing packs some pop!" said Jaden with a smile. "800 points worth! Plus, if Bubbleman ever gets attacked, Bubble Blaster takes the hit for him! Now, to give him those extra attack points and now, to use 'em!"

"I play the magic card multiply!" said Dimitri as a number of Kuriboh's appeared.

"Dreams come true!" said Rose with happiness causing Zane to chuckle.

"Shit," said Jaden.

"By sacrificing one Kuriboh, I can now summon Kuriboh Tokens on all open spaces in my monster card zone," explained Dimitri. "Of course, your blast is still in play, but its significance has been deflated."

"Fine. Then I'll just end my turn by throwin' down a facedown," said Jaden.

"Very well!" said Dimitri as he drew a card. "And I'll throw this: The Magical Card of Sanctity! It forces each of us to draw until we both have six cards in our hand!"

The two drew cards until they each had six, with Jaden having to draw the most amount of cards.

"Excellent," said Dimitri as he showed a card. "I drew the monster Watapon! You see, if Watapon is drawn to my hand by way of magic, trap, or monster effect, I can summon it to the field. But still, he won't be out for long because now I'm going to sacrifice him and bring out Dark Magician Girl!"

"How cool! I wonder if it will be like this to see Light Magician Girl too! I wish I could see Lilly's deck in action too!" said Rose with a smile.

"They have a poster of the two monsters at the exhibit," said Zane. "We can get that tomorrow too."

"Yay!" said Rose in happiness.

"Wow, She's even cuter in person!" said Jaden as he looked at the monster. "Though Rose is cutter."

"What?" asked Rose in shock as Zane smirked and chuckled.

"She has beauty and brawn," said Dimitri with a smile. "You see, for every Dark Magician in the graveyard, she gains 300 attack points! And on the subject of Dark Magicians, don't forget about this one: Dark Magician of Chaos, attack!"

Lucky for Jaden, just the Bubble Blaster was destroyed.

"Now what he started, she'll finish. Dark Magician Girl! Dark Burning Attack!" said Dimitri with a smirk. The attack lowered Jaden's life points to 800. "The heart of the cards are indeed powerful, aren't they Jaden?"

"Alright. So, you got me with a couple good shoots," said Jaden as he rubbed his nose. "Now it's my turn!"

"Your turn?"

"Yeah, that's right!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "To return the favor. And with this card I just drew, I'll be able to return it and then some!"

"Hmm," hummed Zane as Avian appeared on the field.

"I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to summon the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! But I'm not done!" said Jaden as he showed a card. "Next I play The Warrior Returning Alive! It lets me bring back a past warrior monster, like Sparkman! And don't forget Skyscraper's still out, Which means Flame Wingman gets an extra thousand attack point in battle!"

"But wait. 3,100 attack points, that's –" started Dimitri as he was cut off by Jaden.

"Yep! Enough to take out your magician, either one. But since I have a soft spot for the girl because of my girl, we'll start with him," said Jaden as his monster destroyed Chaos Magician.

"His girl?" asked Zane as he looked at said girl.

"Shut up," said Rose with a bush. "I'm not his girl." ' **At least he never asked me.'**

The attack only lowered Dmitri's life points to 3,700.

"Oh yeah, and I also have Wingman's super power!" said Jaden. "It causes you to take damage to your life points equal to the attack points of your destroyed monster!"

This lowered Dimitri's life points to 900.

"Crazy! I'm beatin' Yugi's deck!" smiled Jaden as he rubbed his nose.

"And admitting you like Rose," said Bastion with a smirk causing both Jaden and Rose to blush.

"I wonder if he would still say anything if he knew you were right here?" asked Zane to the blushing girl.

"Shut up!" said Rose as he looked at the duel.

"SHUT UP BASTION!" yelled Jaden with a huge blush. "Anyway, Sparkman, attack! Spark Storm!"

His monster destroyed one of the Kuriboh Tokens.

"Nest, I'll throw down two face downs and use the spell card Emergency Provisions! Now by sacrificin' one a' those face downs, I get back a thousand life points!"

This raised Jaden's life points up to 1,800.

"Sweet, Dontcha think?"

"You got this Jaden!" yelled Syrus so that everyone could here.

"You have nothing! My deck is prepared for all contingencies!" said Dimitri as he drew a card. "First, I'll switch Dark Magician Girl to defense mode. Then I'll activate Spider Web!"

"Huh?" said Jaden as w light came toward him.

"It allows me to take one of the cards you sent to your graveyard last turn and place it directly into my hand! And soon it will go directly into my life points because I choose Emergency Provisions!"

"Shit," said Jaden.

"Next, I'll place two cards facedown. Then I'll activate the spell card Monster Reincarnation! And next, I'll make three sacrifices, Which lets me play emergency provisions," said Dimitri as his life points went up to 3,900. "Finally, thanks to Reincarnation, I'll take back the Kuriboh I just lost! So, did you follow all of that?!"

"Not a word of it!" yelled Syrus confidently, causing his friends, brother, and others watching to sweat drop.

"Well, I did. Sweet moves," said Jaden to make everyone focus back on the duel as he drew a card. "But they won't save you from the Flame Wingman! Skydive Scorcher! And don't forget his super power! You get hit for damage equal to the attack points of The Dark Magician Girl!"

"Ahh!" screamed Dimitri when his life points went down to 1,600. "Good thing I padded my points last turn."

"Yeah? Well, good thing I have a couple a' attacks left!" said Jaden a she played a card. "I use the spell card De-Fusion! Now, Flame Wingman, defuse!"

"Good move," remarked Zane.

"Avian, attack! Talon Tear!" said monster attacked and destroyed a Kuriboh Token. "And now, Burstinatrix! Flare Storm!"

"Go Jaden," said Rose with a smile.

"Go Sparkman, attack! Spark Storm!"

"Sorry, but you're forgetting about someone: Kuriboh!"

"What the?"

"By discarding Kuriboh from my hand, I don't take any damage from Sparkman's little firework display! Good thing Monster Reincarnation let me bring him back from the graveyard last turn."

"Oh yeah, my bad," said Jaden in disappointment.

"Okay, so he might need some help," said Zane as Dimitri start to talk about Battle City.

"Ya think?" asked Rose sarcastically. **'Lots of help if you ask me.'**

"Perfect," said Dimitri as he drew a card. "The heart of the cards has served me again! I remove one dark monster and one light monster from my graveyard."

"Pause and rewind," said Jaden as he looked in the shock. "You're removing them, why Dimitri?"

"You don't think he has one of those cards?" asked Rose to Zane in shock.

"I don't know," said Zane in shock as well.

"Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning!" said Dimitri.

"So, then Yugi really did have that card!" said Jaden in shock. "I always thought it was a rumor."

"I'm afraid not," smirked Dimitri as he again started to speak as if he is Yugi.

' **I hope this ends soon,'** thought Rose as she looked at the duel. **'It feels like Black Luster Soldier doesn't want to be here either.'**

"Luster Blade attack!" said Dimitri as his monster attacked, knocking Jaden's life points to 800. "That was just the beginning! Now I'll show you the true power of this card! You see, if the Black Luster Soldier is able to destroy your monster in battle, he's allowed to attack again!"

"No way!" cried Jaden.

"And now! Black Luster Soldier, end this! It's over!"

"Not yet!" cried Jaden. "I played the card Hero Spirit!"

"What's this?!"

"it's not the end of the duel cuz if a hero is destroyed and I play Hero Spirit, I can turn all the damage received from your monster to zero!"

"Fine, then," said Dimitri in annoyance. "I'll just finish you off next turn. The heart of the card will see to that!"

"Is that Winged Kuriboh?" mumbled Rose as she watched the duel spirit try to encourage Jaden.

"Ha!" yelled Jaden as he drew a card. "Sorry, Dimitri, but I believe!"

"What?" asked Dimitri in confusion.

"I activate Silent Doom!" said Jaden in confidence. "This very handy spell card allows me to summon from my graveyard in defense mode! So, come on back, Avian! Next, I'll play this: it's called Double Spell! Now by discardin' one spell card from my hand, I can use one spell card from my opponent's graveyard! If ya need more info, just look in the official rule book under the heading, 'How'd I lose?'"

"Yes! He's got a plan!" said Rose with a smile.

"So, I'll discard this and help myself to you Polymerization!" said Jaden as the card appeared on his side. "Now I'll fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to create my deck's headliner one more time: The Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! And since my Skyscraper field card is still out, he gains an extra 1,000 attack points! Now, Flame Wingman! Attack Black Luster Soldier with Skydive Scorcher!"

"He's gone! My Luster Soldier's gone!" screamed Dimitri in shock as his life points went down to 1,500.

"Don't sweat it, he was never yours to begin with," said Jaden in annoyance. "Besides, if yaw anna worry about somethin', worry about Wingman's super power!"

"AHH!" yelled Dimitri as his life points went down to zero.

"Why can't I ever win?" cried Dimitri.

"The answer to that is obvious," said Zane as he and Rose walked around the corner.

"Hey, you're Zane."

"Big bro?" said Syrus in shock.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Jaden **. 'More like what are you two doing together?'**

"Why else? To see the deck, but it was gone," said Zane.

"We snuck into the event hall and saw Crowler freaking out, he told us what happened," said Rose.

"Which lead us here. We found you a while ago but didn't want to interrupt the duel."

"How kind of you," said Bastion with a laugh.

"Wait then, you saw it all?" question Jaden as he stared at the two with a blush on his face. "Me and Dimitri? The whole thing?"

"Not just us. Your match attracted quite a bit of attention," said Zane with a smile as he and Rose turned around to look at everyone who was watching.

"Uh, Hi! Glad you all could make it," said Jaden as he looked at everyone. **'Shit, everyone heard me saying that Rose is cute. Or maybe it's a good thing.'**

"What now?" asked Dimitri.

"Well, kid. The punishment for stealing has always been crystal clear – Straight up expulsion. But still, since I think everyone here enjoyed seeing Yugi's deck in a duel instead of in a display case, I doubt anyone will turn you in," said Zane with a smirk.

"What difference does it make? I lost."

"You didn't lose. The person you were pretending to be did," said Jaden as he tried to explain it to Dimitri.

"He's confusing himself, isn't he," said Rose with a giggle.

"Yeah," said Zane with a chuckle.

"Should you help or should I."

"Let me attempt to interpret for him, Dimitri," said Zane out load. "You'll never win or lose until you put yourself out there, and that means creating your own deck and your own strategies. Not piggy-backing off of someone else's. After all, there is no amount of studying you can do to be able to use someone else's deck as well as they can."

"Yeah! What Zane said, that's exactly what I meant!" said Jaden with a smile. "Just 'cuz I beat you doesn't mean I can beat Yugi. So, let's go put the deck pack."

"Yeah, okay," said Dimitri.

 _ **~The Next Day~**_

"So now Dimitri is acting like Jaden," said Zane as he held a bag with a poster of Dark Magician Girl and Light Magician Girl as well as a plushie of Kuriboh. **'I'm not all the surprised that she got the biggest plushie they had. I guess it's a good thing that Bastion offered to pay half.'**

"I don't know if I should be scared or not," said Rose with a sweat drop as the two watch Jaden try to correct Dimitri.

"I wonder how he's able to make such quick outfit changes."

"That's a good question," said Rose as she looked at him. "Well, I better go and make sure they stop."

"Good luck with that," said Zane as he saw Rose walk to Jaden and Dimitri, only to hit them both. **'Let's hope Jaden and handle you.'**


	12. The Duel Off!

Episode(s): 21 -22

"For real?" asked Jaden as he pointed to himself.

"That's right. You will duel Bastion, and the victor will represent Duel Academy in the school duel against North Academy," said Professor Banner. Jaden just turned to smile at Bastion. "I look forward to an exciting match!"

 **'Being that its Jaden, I know it will be,'** thought Rose to herself.

 _ **~The Day of the Duel ~**_

"It's time, duelist, to find out who will represent our most illustrious academy in the annual school duel!" said Crowler as he stood in the middle of the arena.

"Introducing first, from the Ra dorms, Bastion Misawa!" introduced Crowler as Bastion stood to his right. Everyone cheered.

"And then from Slifer, some kid," said Crowler as he was forced to introduce Jaden. No one cheered except for Syrus and Chumley.

 **'Its funny since they were all cheering him when he and Syrus went against the Paradox brothers,'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"It'll be instinct versus intelligence here," said Zane as he came to stand next to Rose and Alexis.

"I guess, who cares," said Alexis, shocking the other two.

"Alexis?" said Rose.

"I mean, yeah!" said Alexis, trying to fake happiness. Zane and Rose just looked at each other.

"Now! Without any further ado!" said Crowler.

"Get your game on!" said Jaden.

"Let's duel!" said the two boys.

 **'I wonder what's wrong with Alexis,'** thought Rose as she looked at her friend. **'Zane obviously doesn't know, so what happened.'**

"Alright! First move," said Bastion as he drew a card. "I summon Carboneddon in defense mode! That's all for now."

"A brand-new deck, and Carboneddon is all you can bust out?" asked Jaden with a smile. "Whatever works for ya!"

"Don't get overconfident," said Rose as she watched.

"Now," said Jaden as he drew a card. "I play Burstinatrix in attack mode!"

"Off to a good start there," said Bastion.

"Yeah, sure am! And I got news for ya, it only gets better! Burstinatrix, attack! Nest I'll throw down a face-down and call it a turn."

"You don't waste any time. I like that," said Bastion as he drew a card. "I'm going to summon Oxygeddon in attack mode! And now, Oxygeddon, attack!"

"Think again! I got a trap," said Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. "Hero Barrier! With this card, if I have an Elemental Hero on the field, I can negate your monster's attack once! Sorry Bastion, but Burstinatrix isn't busted just yet!"

"Well-played, Jaden. Put of course, I'd expect no less. I'll go ahead and place this face down. And that's all."

"Alright then. I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" said Jaden as said monster appeared. "And I activate the equip spell Spark Blaster and equip it on Sparkman! Now I can change the battle mode of any monster on the field and the one I have set in Sparkman's sights is Oxygeddon! Now he has to switch into defense mode! And now Burstinatrix can take him out! Go Magma Comet!"

"Whoops! Looks like someone has forgotten their chemistry, no?" said Bastion with a smirk. "See, fire and oxygen, they don't mix Jaden. So, when Oxygeddon is destroyed in battle by a pyro-type monster, it doesn't just take a toll on my life points, but on yours as well!"

"Sweet move," said Jaden as both his and Bastion's life points went down to 3,200. "Your monster's ability cost us both there! But I'd do it all over again, know why? 'Cause now your field is empty, which means my Sparkman can attack you directly!

"Hey Zane," asked Rose.

"Yeah," said Zane as he looked at the shorter girl.

"I was wondering, I know you went to some meeting where they were going to pick the duelist, but who picked who? Could you guys not decide?"

"I nominated Jaden, Crowler nominated Bastion."

"Ahh! That explains why he's freaking out down there," said Rose as she looked toward Dr. Crowler, causing the other two to look. Jaden had reduced Bastion's life points to just 1,600.

"It can't be helped," said Zane after he sighed.

"You'd think he'd learn by now," said Alexis with a sweat drop.

"To much makeup is effecting his thinking process," said Rose in a serious voice, causing the other two to chuckle.

"hey, sorry there Bastion," said Jaden with a smile. "Guess it's back to the drawing board if you wanna beat my deck!"

"No, Jaden, I think not. You see, I've already beaten it. Now, it's simply a matter of showing all of my work. Now then, let's get back into the fray, shall we?

"It's my turn," said Bastion as he drew a card. "And I'm going to summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode! Now, Hydrogeddon, attack Burstinatrix!"

This lowered Jaden's life points to 2,800.

"Next I'll activate Hydrogeddon's ability!" said Bastion with a smirk. "You see, whenever he destroys a monster in battle, it allows me to summon another Hydrogeddon. And I happen to have one right here in my deck! And now I'll play an equip spell from my hand Living Fossil! I can now summon one monster from my graveyard so long as I equip it with this. And the monster I'll bring back is Oxygeddon! Rise again old friend!

"Of course, Fossil lowers his attack points and cancels his special ability, but it's worth it."

"Already?" asked Rose as she had an idea of what Bastion was going to summon.

"Now it gets good," said Bastion with a smirk. "I activate the spell card: Bonding H2O! See Jaden, when I bond two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon, they do the exact same thing that two-hydrogen bonded with one oxygen do. They become water, or in this case, the all-powerful Water Dragon!"

"That's not good," said Jaden.

"Now he looks a little too happy," commented Zane about Crowler.

"It's really creepy," said Alexis.

"How do they allow him around children?" asked Rose.

"I've been asking myself that since I started going here," said Zane, shocking the two girls.

 **'That's bad,'** thought both girls.

"It's your move now, Jaden," said Bastion.

"Well, Bastion, it's like they always say, when the goin' gets tough, the tough get goin'!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "So here I go! Sweet! Alright, you got one of your best monsters out, so allow me to summon on up one of mine! Now I may not know as much chemistry as you do, but I can still mix it up. Avian and Bubbleman, get ready to merge with Sparkman to create the one and only Elemental Hero Tempest! Alrightie. Fuse!"

"I don't think so, Jaden," said Bastion with a smirk. "Go! Trap card, Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell! Now, by discarding one spell card from my hand, I can negate your spell card and destroy it! And you can no longer use the card that was destroyed by this effect for the remainder of the duel."

"Wait! I can't use Polymerization anymore?" asked Jaden in shock.

"I'm afraid not, which essentially means you can't use any of your fusion monsters anymore, either. No Flame Wingman, no Thunder Giant, none of them," said Bastion as he smirked. "Compute it any which way you like, but the answer will always come out the same. This duel's over. You can't win."

Jaden simply played Avian in defense mode.

"Face it Jaden, with your fusion monsters neutralized and my Water Dragon about to strike, you and your monsters are about to be all washed up!

"No way, Bastion got rid of polymerization," said Alexis in shock.

"Let's see how Jaden measures up," said Zane as he looked at the duel, only to sigh.

"He's creeping me out," said Rose as she looked at what Zane sighed about.

"Just ignore him, that's what I've been doing since I've started here," said Zane.

 **'Come on, Jaden,'** thought Rose.

"Fight back," said Alexis.

"Well, perhaps we underestimated Bastion," said Zane with a smile. "He's been playing this like a pro. After all, with just one card, he's all but disarmed Jaden's deck.

"Come on, he's just taken away Jaden's ability to use fusion monsters, that's all," said Alexis aggressively.

"But that's how Jaden wins all his duels," said Rose.

"My go! And I'm gonna switch Sparkman to defense mode! And I'll leave it at that," said Jaden.

"Not much to do when you've been stripped of the ability to use your favorite monsters, eh, Jaden?" asked Bastion with a smug look.

"Wrong! There's loads to do," said Jaden with a smile. "Like findin' a new plan. It'll be tough, but I'm up for it! And then, Bastion, it'll be all the sweeter when I win!"

"Yes, when you win. Well, we have nothing if not our dreams, I suppose, however farfetched, Now then, let's get on with this duel, shall we Jaden?" said Bastion as he drew a card.

"Jaden is definitely confident," said Zane with a smirk.

"He's got a plan," said Alexis.

"More like he's going to wing it till he has something," laughed Rose with a fond smile.

"I play the Mathematician in attack mode," said Bastion as he played his card.

"Well, I'm not surprised," giggled Rose.

"That's his duel spirt, for sure," said Alexis as she giggled.

"You see, when this is summoned, I must send one card from my deck to the grave," said Bastion. "But then, if Mathematician happens to be destroyed in battle I can take a card from my deck and add it to my hand. Of course, none of that is very pressing right this moment, what with my Water Dragon about to surge into action!"

Sparkman was attacked and destroyed, leaving Jaden with one monster.

"And now, Mathematician attacks your hero Avian! Number Cruncher!"

"Jaden," said Rose as she looked on.

"Well, my turn's done, Jaden. So," said Bastion with a smirk, "if you still plan on beating me feel free to go ahead and do your worst."

"You bet I will!" said Jaden with a smile. "Cuz my duel's just starting!"

"Is it?"

"Yep. Ya see, we're different! You make all your moves at home! I do mine on the field!"

"Hmm," hummed Alexis.

"Alright, where were we?" said Jaden as he drew a card. "First, I'm gonna summon Hero Bubbleman in attack mode! Now when I summon Bubbleman, if I have no other cards out, that's a good thing! Know why? Cuz it means I can draw two cards! And one of 'em I'll play right now! The equip spell Bubble Blaster! This lets Bubbleman gain 800 attack points! And now, Bubbleman attack!"

This attack brought down Bastion's life points to 1,500.

"Well played, but since you destroyed Mathematician, his ability activates allowing me to draw one card," said Bastion as he drew a card.

"Yeah, yeah, but it's still my turn, and I'm gonna throw down two face downs! Next, I'm gonna play the spell card Mirage of Nightmare! And then I'll call it a turn! See, I'm no one trick pony! Ya take away my fusion monsters, and, well, I''' just come right back at ya with somethin' else! Cuz, it's not about the fusion', Bastion, it's about the monster, and mine are still rarin' to go!"

"I'm sure," said Bastion with his eyes closed. "But the fact of the matter is, Jaden, your most powerful monsters are not. When will you accept that dueling is nothing more than a numbers game? A number game that I have calculated effectively, and you have not. Your defeat is imminent, Jaden. Now, my draw!"

"And with it, the effect a' my spell Mirage of Nightmare activates!" called out Jaden. "Cuz a' this card's effect, durin' your standby phase, I'm allowed to draw and keep drawin' till I have four cards! And now I'll reveal my facedown card! Emergency Provisions! Now, allow me to explain how it works, Bastion. By sending one spell or trap on my field to the grave I gain a thousand life points. So, adios Mirage of Nightmare!

"Do you think Jaden can make it?" asked Zane.

"Looks like he might," said Rose as Jaden's life points went up to 3,800.

"Quite impressive," said Zane after watching Jaden. "He switched his strategy and is still playing well."

"Yeah, but can he keep it up?" asked Alexis as she leaned on the railing.

"You're simply postponing the inevitable, you're deck's a problem that's already been solved," said Bastion.

"You're wrong!" cried Jaden.

"Perhaps this will convince you then, I activate the spell card Pot of Greed from my hand! Due to its effect, I draw two cards. Furthermore, there are now ten cards stacked above Carboneddon in the graveyard. But he can handle the pressure, in fact, he thrives on it. Because now, due to the immense gravitational force on Carboneddon, he changes into diamond! And that lets me activate his special effect! By removing this card from play, I can now summon Hyozanryu, The Dimond Dragon!

"Now, Hyozanryu attack Bubbleman! Diamond Devastator!"

"Whoopsie Bastion, when a monster with Bubble Blaster is beaten in battle, it's the blaster that gets destroyed not the monster," said Jaden.

"But now that your blaster's gone, what will protect him from The Water Dragon?!" said Bastion with a smirk. "Tidal Blast!"

The attack knocked Jaden's life points to 1,800.

"Go trap card!" said Jaden as he protected himself. "Hero Signal! This activates when one of my monsters is destroyed! Now, Bastion, I can summon a monster with elemental hero in its name from my deck or from my hand! And I choose Elemental Hero Clayman!"

"My, you just won't give up, will you, Jaden?" said Bastion with a smile. "You certainly are one stubborn duelist."

"Thanks, Bastion," replied Jaden with a smile. "At least, I think that, that was a compliment."

"I'll end my turn with a face down," said Bastion as he put a card facedown.

"Here goes!" said Jaden a she drew a card. "I activate the spell The Warrior Returning Alive! With this card's effect, I can take one warrior-type monster from my grave and add it straight to my hand. And I'll pick Bubbleman and summon him to the field! Then I activate the spell card: Bubble Shuffle! With this, I can change Bubbleman and one of your monsters from attack mode to defense mode!

"Oh, and then if I sacrifice Bubbleman while he's in defense mode? I'm allowed to summon any monster with Elemental Hero in its name from my hand. And guess what, Bastion?! That's exactly what I'm gonna do! Bubbleman, move over from Elemental Hero Bladedge!"

"Those fusion monsters may be Jaden's best," started Zane as he looked at the monster Jaden has summoned, "but that thing is a close second."

"And this should be a close matchup!" said Rose in excitement. **'You've got this Jaden.'**

"Field spell Skyscraper!" said Jaden as he played the card. "Now when a monster with Elemental Hero in its name battles if it has less attack points than your monster it gains a thousand attack points. So, go, Bladedge! Attack Water Dragon with Slice and Dice attack! "

Bladedge attack Water Dragon, much to a lot of people's shock.

"Now Bladedge's ability activates! See, if he attacks a monster in defense mode and has more attack points than your monster's defense points, well then, the difference is dealt directly to you as damage!" said Jaden.

"He got Bastion's life points down to 500!" said Alexis.

"Don't rule Bastion out yet," said Zane.

"Well, my dragon has a special ability, too," said Bastion as he glared at Jaden. "For you see, Jaden, when Water Dragon's destroyed, I can summon one Oxygeddon and two Hydrogeddons from my graveyard! Next, I activate a trap card! Last Magnet! This activates whenever one of my Monsters is destroyed. Then, it equips onto the monster that was responsible for the destruction and causes it to lose 800 attack points!"

"Yeah, well Clayman can still clobber at peak performance!" yelled Jaden, "'Specially with Skyscraper still out on the field! Now, attack Oxygeddon with Clay Clobberer!"

"Good show, Jaden," said Bastion with a smirk as he got ready to grab a card.

"I do what I can," said Jaden with a smirk of his own.

"Alright, it's my turn," Bastion said as he drew a card. "From my hand, I activate the spell Litmus Doom Ritual! Now, from my field and hand, I must sacrifice a total of eight stars worth of monsters, and then I can summon Litmus Doom Swordsman!"

"Hmm," hummed Rose as she watched **'What is he up to?'**

"Doom Swordsman isn't affected by traps nor can he be destroyed in battle. Essentially, he's invincible. Also, when there happens to be a trap card out on the field, just as Last Magnet is right now, his attack and defense points become 3,000!"

"Shit," said Jaden.

"So now, Litmus Doom Swordsman give Blade Edge a taste of your steel! Said Bastion as his monster attacked, knocking Jaden's life points to 1,600.

"Well done, now, Hyozanryu, make me just as proud and attack Clayman! Diamond Devastator!"

Everyone watched as Jaden's life points went down to 1,300.

"There's more," said Bastion as he grabbed a card from his hand, "next, I play from my hand, the mighty spell card: A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon! Now, by returning one level five or above dragon type monster on my field back to my hand, all spell and trap cards on the field are destroyed! Which means Skyscraper is now demolished! Finally, I'll end with a face down."

"He took out Skyscraper," said Rose in shock. "He really planned for everything."

"I thought you were friends with him, wouldn't you know that?" asked Alexis.

"Yeah, but I wasn't there for his planning of Jaden. It's amazing what he's come up with!" said Rose in aww.

"Well I'll tell you Bastion, I don't think I've ever had a more fun duel!" said Jaden with excitement.

"Glad you think so!" yelled Syrus in response.

"Look! There's Syrus and Chumley!" said Rose with a smile, causing Alexis to laugh and Zane to chuckle.

"I've enjoyed it as well, Jaden, and will continue to," said Bastion. "Especially when I beat you!"

"Actually, I'm ending this now," said Jaden as he drew a card. "Sweetness, I'm gonna summon a new Elemental Hero! And here he is: Elemental Hero Wildheart!"

"New one?" said Bastion with a smirk, "Well, he won't make mush of an impression! I'm activating a trap! Spirit Barrier! Now, as long as I have a monster on the field, Spirit Barrier will change any battle damage to zero!"

"Nuh-uh! Traps don't work on Wildheart!" said Jaden, sounding like a child.

"Is that so? Well, I suppose it's a good thing that they still work on my Swordsman then. Remember, when a trap card is out, his attack points go up."

"Not good," said Syrus.

"Nah, it's all good," said Jaden with a smile, "cuz I play Cyclone Boomerang! And I'll equip this spell card on Wildheart, raising his attack points by 500!"

"So, what, he's still short a thousand," said Syrus in despair.

"What gives?" asked Chumley.

"You'll see what gives when this boomerang makes its return trip!" said Jaden as his monster attacked, only for it not to work and his monster was destroyed, bring his life points to 300. "Perfect, now I play Bomerang's effect! See, when this card and the monster equipped with it are sent to the graveyard, all spell and trap cards are automatically destroyed. And then, for everyone destroyed, you take 500 points of damage!"

"He won!" said Rose with a smile.

"I guess when it comes to Jaden Yuki, Bastion miscalculated," said Zane as he walked away.

"I guess, or maybe some strategies you just can't calculate," said Alexis.

"Or more like Jaden is full of surprises," laughed Rose as she started to walk toward the stage.

"And the winner is Jaden Yuki!" said Chancaler Shepard, "Well done! You will be Duel Academy's representative at the school duel."

"Way to play, Jay," said Syrus as he and Chumley got to the field.

"Good job," said Chumley.

"Indeed," said Bastion as he walked to Jaden, Rose next to him as she had made it to the field. "You beat me fair and square, Jaden. Rather, you beat this deck, but you can be assured that there will be another."

"And another duel I hope!" said Jaden with a smile as the two shock hands.

"Good job Jaden," said Rose as she walked to stand next to Jaden.

"Thanks Rose," said Jaden as he smiled at her. She smiled at him and then kissed his cheek. Jaden went red while the other three laughed and the audience cheered.

"Alright, School duel, get your game on, 'cuz here I come!" yelled Jaden as everyone cheered.


	13. The School Duel

Episode(s): 25 – 26

"Can someone please explain to me why there is a film crew here?" asked Alexis as she and Rose walked up to Zane.

"Apparently Chazz is Jaden's opponent and his brothers decided to broadcast the whole thing," said Zane.

"Why am I not surprised after find that out," said Rose as the three walked into the stadium to find their seats.

"Big bro! Alexis! Rose!" said Syrus once he saw the three. They walked up to him and took the seats that he was near.

Bastion, Rose, and Syrus sat in one row while Alexis, Chumley, and Zane sat in the row above them. Syrus sat at the end of the row, next to the stairs. Rose sat on his right and Bastion was to her right. Chumley sat behind Bastion, Zane behind Rose, and Alexis behind Syrus.

"Attention students!" said Sheppard, "Welcome to the school duel!"

"And now," said Foster.

"Let this year's competition finally begin!" said the two together.

"Dr. Crowler, introduce the duelist," said Sheppard.

"With pleasure Chancellor Sheppard," said Crowler into his microphone. "After all, these are two duelist that I know personally! And personally, I just adore them!

"Now first, from Duel Academy," he said, causing the Duel Academy students to cheer. "All right, keep it down, keep it down. Jaden Yucky! What's that? Oh, yes. Yooki. Yooki."

"He can't even get his name right," said Rose with a sweat drop.

"It should be expected," said Bastion.

"Go Jay, you can do it!" said Syrus.

"And his opponent," said Crowler, only to be interrupted.

"Get off the stage," said Chazz. "I'll introduce myself, you scrub."

"I beg your pardon!" yelled Crowler into the mic as he somehow managed to tie himself up with the wire from the mic.

"I don't really need an introduction," said Chazz as he looked around, "after all, everyone here knows who I am."

Chazz then went to talk about how he had changed and got North Academy to cheer "Chazz it up."

"Wow. It's like they really like Chazz," said Syrus in shock.

"I'm more shock that he made his own catch phrase and people are actually using it," said Rose.

"Duel!" said the two boys to start the duel.

"Let's see how this duel goes," said Zane as both Chazz and Jaden brought out their first monsters on their first terns.

"alright, Jaden's taken the lead!" said Syrus after Jaden attacked Chazz's monster.

"Nuh-uh, he's taken the bait!" said Chazz.

"Oh-oh," said Jaden.

"I activate my Masked Dragon's special ability!" said Chazz. "You see, when this card is sent to the graveyard due to battle, I can summon a dragon type monster with 1,500 or fewer attack points from my deck. And I have just the one! Go ahead and see for yourself! Come out, Armed Dragon Level 3!"

"Level?" said Syrus in shock.

"Yeah, and three is the lowest," said Alexis.

"If Chazz plays this right, the dragon will get a lot bigger," said Rose.

"indeed," said Bastion. "I just wonder where Chazz ever got such a powerful card."

"And it looks like he knows how to play it," said Rose as Chazz got the level 5 monster.

"Be careful Jaden!" yelled Bastion. "By leveling up, Armed Dragon's power has substantially increased, and he was plenty powerful before!"

"Aw, man," said Syrus.

"At least this time Bastion is not being negative," said Rose with a giggle.

"I know," giggled Alexis.

"I wasn't that bad," said Bastion as he looked at them.

"Yes you were," said the two girls.

"Wow, Chazz. That thing's pretty sweet! But then, so's my trap!" said Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. "Hero Ring! And I'll equip it to Burstinatrix! Now monsters with 1,900 or more attack points can't attack! Them's the breaks!"

"You want breaks?" laughed Chazz, "I'll give you breaks, Jaden, because even with that Hero Ring shield out, my Armed Dragon Level 5 is going to crush your creature!"

"How?"

"Armed Dragon's special ability, that's how!" said Chazz. "You see, by discarding a monster to the grave, I can destroy a monster of yours whose attack points are equal or less than the one I tossed!"

"Wait, so," said Jaden in shock.

"So, if Flying Kamakiri 1 goes to the graveyard. . ." started Chazz.

"Then Jaden's Burstinatrix will be in big-time trouble!" finished Syrus.

"She has less attack points!" said Chumley.

"I'm sorry Burst," said Jaden. "My bad."

"Go, Armed Dragon Level 5! Shrapnel Blast!" yelled Chazz. "And that was just his special ability! Ahh! Now time for his direct attack! Inferno Roar!"

"Jaden," said Rose as Jaden's life points went down to 1,600 and he flew across the arena.

"Heh heh! So that's Duel Academy's best, huh?" laughed Chazz.

"Nice shot!" said Jaden as he jumped up onto his feet. "Although, I gotta say, I think for the next TV broadcast, I'd love to arrange to have a stunt man."

"Whatever. I'm placing one card facedown and ending my turn," said Chazz.

"My go! Ha!" said Jaden as he drew his card. "You're in trouble now! I play elemental hero Bubbleman in attack mode! And when Bubbleman is summoned, if there are no other cards out on my field, like right now, I'm allowed to draw two more cards! And now I'll use one of them, Polymerization, to fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Sparkman with Bubbleman to create, wait for it, Elemental Hero Tempest!"

"Alright! You got him now Jay!" yelled Syrus.

"With Fly Boy there?" asked Chazz.

"You better believe it!" said Jaden. "And he gives a new definition to the term air power! Glider Strike! "

"Thanks for that," said Chaz as Jaden destroyed his monster and brought down his life points to 3,600. "It lets me play my trap: Call of the Haunted!"

"Uh-oh."

"Not that one!" said Syrus.

"Do you believe in ghosts? Well, you're about to because this card lets me summon back any monster I want from my graveyard, and I bet you can guess which one I'm going to pick. Armed Dragon Level 5, Rise!"

"Chazz it up!" yelled the North Academy students.

"Well, I guess I'll just throw down a facedown and hope for the best," said Jaden as he ended his turn.

"Now!" yelled Chazz as he drew a card. "I'm using Armed Dragons special ability. I'm discarding Despair From The Dark from my hand to the graveyard. And since it has 2,800 attack points, your bird man's headed to the pet cemetery! Now, Armed Dragon destroy Hero Tempest with Shrapnel Blast!"

"I activate the spell Diffusion!" yelled Jaden as he revealed his facedown card. "Quick, defuse Tempest!"

"Talk about close!" said Syrus.

"I know. He barely saved his monsters!" said Chumley.

 **'Good job Jaden,'** thought Rose with a smile.

"Whatever, my Armed Dragon still has his attack to use! And now, I'm going to use it!" said Chazz. "Go, Inferno Roar!"

"Come on Jaden," said Rose as one of his monsters was destroyed.

"And now to take this duel to the next level, Jaden," laughed Chazz. "To the highest level."

"What?" said Jaden.

"It's time to upgrade my Armed Dragon Level 5 to level 7! Now, won't you join me, Jaden, in welcoming the ultimate and the all-powerful: the Level 7-Armed Dragon!"

"Chazz it up!" repeated the North Academy students.

"Somebody shut them up!" yelled Rose in anger.

"Calm down," said Zane as he put his hands on her shoulders to keep her in her seat.

"Ok, so he's big. But who knows? I mean, he could be friendly," said Jaden in hope.

"Aw, what wrong?" chuckled Chazz. "You're not so talkative anymore? You don't have anything to say, Jaden?"

"Yeah, I do!" said Jaden in happiness. "I gotta get me one of those! He's so cool. Trade for him!?"

"No, I won't trade him! What's wrong with you!?" asked Chazz in annoyance. "You should be scared of him, not admiring him!"

"But how can I not? He's an incredible monster, and this has been an incredible duel. How can anyone not be excited?!" said Jaden as he jumped around from foot to foot. "I mean, this is as good as it gets! I'm stocked! This is what dueling's all about! Thanks Chazz!"

"Thanks!? You're pitiful, Jaden," said Chazz in anger. "Jumping up and down like some fool, never taking anything serious, that's why you'll never be a champion. You see, it takes discipline to win. You need to have a sense of duty. You need to have some kind of plan! And I have a plan and I have a sense of duty, and that's why I'm going to beat you, Jaden. That's why I'll beat anyone in my way! I can conquer anyone! You got that!? I'm going to conquer the whole world!"

"I think he's stressed," said Syrus.

"Big time," replied Rose **. 'I wonder what has him so worked up.'**

"Ok, well," said Jaden awkwardly. "If you don't mind, can I take my turn first?"

"Make it quick!" yelled Chazz.

"Chill!" replied Jaden as he drew a card. "Alright, I'll call up Wroughtweiler in defense mode! And I'll throw down a facedown. How's that for quick?"

"Not bad! But downright sluggish compared to how quick my dragon's going to take out all your monsters! Watch this!" said Chazz as he discarded a card. "I'm using my Armed Dragon's special ability! Now, by discarding a monster from my had, I can destroy all monsters you have out with equal or fewer attack points!"

"That's not good."

"Damn, that'll leave Jaden wide open!" said Rose.

"That is one impressive special power," said Zane.

"I discard Armed Dragon Level 3 to the graveyard, so all your monsters with 1,200 or less attack points will be completely wiped out! Go! Serrated Sonic Discs! Destroy!"

"Jaden, no!" said Syrus in shock. As everyone else looked at the duel in shock.

"Well, before Wroughtweiler goes belly up, his special ability gets to activate!" said Jaden in a determined voice. "One, that lets me bring Polymerization and an Elemental Hero to my hand."

"As if it'll matter, you Duel Academy stooge!" insulted Chazz. "It's time for you to go bye-bye! Level 7-Armed Dragon, attack Jaden directly with Dragon Talon Terror!"

"Jaden!" yelled Syrus.

"Come on Jaden!" yelled Rose.

"Not so fast there, Chazz!" said Jaden. "I played a trap! Hero Spirit!"

"What the, how did," asked Chazz, confused that his attack didn't do anything.

"Didn't you know, Chazz? When Hero Spirit's out, if a hero's destroyed, all damage goes to zero, zilch, zip, nada!"

"Congratulations, you can use a thesaurus," said Chazz condescendingly, "but it'll take a lot more than words to beat my Armed Dragon! And a lot more than any pathetic monster you have! Face it, Jaden. You're toast!"

"Gotta get something started," said Jaden as he drew a card. "I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode! That will do for now."

"Why'd you bring him out, Jaden? You planning to dust around here or something?" laughed Chazz, causing Kuriboh to become angered.

"They have feelings," mumbled Rose as Bastion patted her leg.

"That they do," Bastion said to comfort her.

"What? Did I hurt his widdle feelings?" asked Chazz as his duel spirit appeared and he started freaking out.

"Is Chazz going crazy?" asked Syrus.

"No, he's just having problems with his duel spirt," said Rose as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Duel spirit?" asked the others.

"Rose, you can see them?" asked Zane.

"Yup, and from my guess, so can Chazz and Jaden."

"I'm lost," said Chumley.

"Some people poses the ability to see duel spirits even if they aren't played. They have a special connection to them," replied Zane.

"That's very interesting," said Bastion as he looked at the duel.

"it's my turn," said Chazz as he drew a card, "and your Kuriboh's turn to get blasted! Armed Level 7 Dragon, attack with Dragon Talon Terror! And I'll leave it at that."

"Wait, why didn't Chazz use his Armed Dragon's special ability?" asked Syrus.

"Because Kuriboh's would cancel it out," explained Bastion. "The turn in which he's destroyed, Jaden takes no damage."

"My go now," said Jaden as he drew a card. "And I activate the spell card Pot of Greed!"

"You better have a plan, Jaden," said Rose as she looked at Jaden draw his two cards.

"Alright! Just the card I need to turn this duel around! And around! And around!"

"Say what?" asked Chazz.

"Here, see for yourself!" said Jaden as he played one of the cards he drew. "Go! Special Hurricane!"

"What the-"

"That's right! By discarding one card from my hand, I can use this spell card and destroy any monster on the field that was special summoned!" said Jaden as his spell destroyed Armored Dragon.

"No way, it can't be," said Chazz in disbelief.

"Oh, it be alright! And now you be in some big-time trouble! Because your best monster is off the field, and you're all alone on it!"

"So licious!" said Chumley with a smile. "Totally what I'd have done. Ya know, if I had those cards and if Jaden were walking me through it step by step."

"That's all?" asked Bastion. "Maybe he should hold your hand as well."

"Way to play!" said Syrus with a smile. "Now follow through and take it to Chazz's life points, Jay!"

"You go it Sy!" replied Jaden. "I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart! And now, Chazz, you're in for some heartbreak!"

"What?" asked Rose as Jaden made no sense.

"Uh, actually, that doesn't make any sense," he said causing the others to sweat drop. "Uhh, just attack."

"Yes," said Rose as Chazz's life points went down to 2,100.

"Chazz, get up!" yelled Foster as his students soon followed.

"It's. . . my. . . turn." Said Chazz as he started to get up. "I play, a spell card: Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension! This baby lets me take two monsters from my graveyard and shuffle them right into my deck! Sure, they have to be a special kind of monster, but it's just the kind that I need: my Armed Dragons! Oh, and, I happen to have another one in my hand as well! I summon The Armed Dragon Level 3!"

"Chazz it up! Chazz it up!" chanted the North Academy students.

"Yeah, and now Jaden's about to be washed up."

"Oh, Jaden," said Alexis in concern.

"I'm trying!" yelled Chazz.

"Uh, trying what? To weird me out?" asked Jaden. "Hello?! Earth to Chazz."

"Jaden! Come on buddy! You've gotta turn this duel around!" yelled Syrus. "You've gotta show everyone what's up, Jay!"

"Come on Jaden!" yelled Rose.

"Alright try cheering this! Wildheart, attack that armed Dragon! Wild Slash!"

"Thanks for that! Now I can play my trap!" said Chazz as he revealed his facedown card. "It's called The Grave of Enkindling! And since a monster was destroyed in battle, it lets us both take a monster from our graveyard and summon it to the field in defense mode! And I choose another Armed Dragon and he's Level 5!"

"Grave of Enkinfling made that way too easy," complained Syrus. "It's practically unfair. Isn't there any drawback to using it?"

"If I recall correctly," started Bastion causing his friends to look at him, "By rule the resurrected monster must remain in defense mode. Of course, that's really a moot point. After all, with Level 5's special ability, by discarding a monster from his hand to the graveyard, Chazz can destroy one of Jaden's monsters whose attack points are less or equal to the monster Chazz discarded."

"Damn, I really hope Jaden has some sort of plan," said Rose as she turned back to watch the duel.

"Well? What are you waiting for?!" complained Chazz. "Resurrect. Take a monster out of your graveyard. But let me tell you, it's going to be a round trip!"

"Monster? Sorry, but I think you mean monsters!" declared Jaden.

"Please. What are you talking about? That Grave of Enkindling only lets you bring one monster back."

"What's he planning?" asked Bastion as the other stared in shock.

"I bring back Hero Kid from the graveyard!" said Jaden as he got his card.

"What the?" asked Chazz in shock.

"He wasn't in your graveyard, Jaden!" yelled Chazz.

"Think again!"

"Oh, yeah," said Chazz after he thought about it.

"And like I said, it's not just him, cuz when Hero Kid is special summoned, just like he was by that grave of enkindling, well than, Chazz, I get to call out every other Hero Kid that I have in my deck! And now, I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn!"

"Heh. I see," said Chazz with a smirk. "By playing three monsters, you think I'll have to discard three cards to destroy them, right? You wish! I don't have to discard three cards. I just have to play one!"

"Ok. This is bad," said Syrus.

"Alright! Here goes!" said Chazz as he drew a card. "I activate the spell card Level Up!"

"Uh-oh," said Jaden.

"What it does is let me level up a monster! And I choose Armed Dragon, now Level 7!" laughed Chazz.

"No, with that, Chazz can destroy all of Jaden's monsters again!" said Zane causing Syrus to shudder.

"This is Jaden we're talking about, he should have something," said Rose, trying to be confident.

"Chazz it up!" called the North Academy students.

"I've been waiting a long time to tell you this, Jaden, so listen up!" called Chazz. "I got my game on, and I'm about to turn yours off!"

"That's it baby!" yelled the producer, "The whole world is watching you shine!"

"Then keep in rolling because you ain't seen nothing yet," said Chazz. "Next I'll throw the equip spell card Armed Changer! Now, simply by discarding another equip spell card from my hand to the graveyard, I can activate this baby! And equip it to my dragon! Now, Armed Dragon attack! Dragon Driller!"

The attack landed and destroyed Wildheart, leaving Jaden at 300 life points.

"And now Armed Changer's effect activates," said Chazz arrogantly. "See, when he takes down a monster in battle it lets me bring a monster back from my grave to my hand just so long as it doesn't have more attack points than the monster it destroyed. And I think that I'll bring back Masked Dragon! But he won't be around for long because now I'm going to use Armed Dragon Level 7's special ability!"

"Aww man," whined Syrus as the others started in shock.

"That ability will send Masked Dragon to the graveyard and then crush any beast with less attack points," said Zane.

"Now, Armed Dragon, trounce those triplets!" yelled Chazz. "Serrated Sonic Disks!"

"No," said Alexis.

"Looks like your Hero Kids just got grounded!" laughed Chazz. "Grounded up! Tell you what, if you surrender now, I promise not to embarrass you on global TV! Oh wait! I already did!"

"Hey, it's not that funny!" said Syrus.

"Jaden keep fighting! Don't give up!" yelled Shepard.

"Who's giving up?" asked Jaden. "I mean, I'm havin' way to much fun to give up! After all, that's what duelin's all about, win or lose. Cuz if you're havin' fun, you win every time!"

"Gag me," replied Chazz.

"It's true! And if I can have fun right now losing, shouldn't you be able to winning?" asked Jaden. "It's seriously not that hard despite what your brothers may want you to believe."

"What?! What do you know about my brothers?" yelled Chazz in anger.

"Well, for starters, Chazz, I know they're the ones you're dueling for and the ones puttin' all this pressure on ya, too," said Jaden, causing Chazz to growl. "Come on Chazz, remember when ya dueled for the excitement of it?"

"I only duel to win!"

"Well, we'll see where that gets ya!" yelled Jaden as he drew a card. I play, The Warrior Returning Alive! Now I can bring a warrior back from the grave and to my hand. And I think I'll choose, my favorite feathered friend, Elemental Hero Avian! And then, with Polymerization and Burstinatrix, I'll make the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

"So? He doesn't stand a chance against my monster!" gloated Chazz. "After all, The Armed Dragon Level 7 has 2,800 attack points! You're way outmatched!"

"Wrong Chazz! Cuz I'm inviting; my three Hero Kids to come back out and play!" said Jaden with a smirk, causing everyone to gasp.

"To play?" asked Chazz.

"Yeah! With your points!" yelled Jaden. "I play miracle kids! Here's how it works: for every Hero Kid I've got in the grave, your Armed Dragon loses 400 attack points and since I have three, Armed Dragon's attack points decrease by 1,200! Now who's outmatched? Actually, don't answer that Flame Wingman will for ya!"

Duel Academy cheered as Chazz's life points went down to 1,600.

"All right!" said Syrus in happiness. "Jaden just took out the Armed Dragon with just one attack!"

"And the assault's not over yet, Syrus!" said Bastion in seriousness. "The Flame Wingman still has his super power! It comes next."

"Yeah, and it's going to really burn Chazz!" said Alexis with a smile.

"His life points will now take damage equal to his destroyed monster's attack points," said Rose with a grin. "1,600!"

"NO!" yelled Chazz as his life points went down to zero.

"That's game!" said Jaden as Duel Academy cheered for him.

"Way to go Jaden!" said Rose with a smile, but it dropped when she noticed Chazz's brothers walk onto the stage.

"You loser. You dog!" said one of the brothers, Slade. "You've disgraced yourself. You've disgraced the Princeton name!"

"You are no brother of our anymore!" said the other, Jagger. Everyone in the stadium started to quiet down to watch the scene.

"Just give me another chance," said Chazz in desperation.

"Another Chance?" asked Jagger in anger. "Do you know how much we spent on this duel!?"

"The cameras! The rare cards!" yelled Slade. "None of which you used, I might add!"

"Sorry," said Chazz in sadness, "I thought I could win this by myself."

"Yourself?" asked Jagger as he picked Chazz up by his collar.

"When could you do anything by yourself, Chazz!" yelled Slade.

 **'What the fuck kind of brothers are those? Who says that to their younger sibling?'** thought Rose in anger.

"Let him go!" said Jaden in a forceful voice.

 **'Damn, who knew Jaden could get angry,'** thought Rose in shock as she and her group of friends stood behind Jaden on stage.

"Yeah, sure he lost, but how could he not with you two jerks breathin' down his neck?"

"Two jerks?" asked Jagger in annoyance. "Do you have any idea who we are? We can have you crushed kid!"

"Why defend Chazz?" asked Slade as he looked at the group. "He's a nobody now. Disowned by us and by the whole world! I mean, the cameras caught enough of it! He got schooled! He got mopped up!"

"That's right," said Jagger as he pulled Chazz closer to his face, "and then, worst of all, he got beat."

"Wrong, there's one fight he did win," said Jaden with anger as the rest of the group glared at the brothers. "The fight, against you two! Sure, Chazz may not have won the duel, but hey, at least he fought it on his own terms! It's like he said: he used his cards, not what your money could buy!"

"Right on Jaden!" said Crowler as he cried. "I mean, you no-good Slifer Slacker"

 **'Why is he crying?'** question Rose in her head.

"Tight duel, Chazz," said Jaden as Chazz was let go. "And I know it's cheesy, but I think the truth of it is, we both won here."

"You're just saying that," said Chazz in anger. "I mean, come on, nobody else believes that."

"Chazz," said Rose in sadness.

"We do Chazz," said someone in the crowed. This caused others in the crowed to start cheering for him. Chazz's brothers then left.

 _ **~ That Evening~**_

"Well, this is good bye Chazz, don't forget to write," said Jaden with a smile.

"Jaden, I'm not going back," said Chazz, causing the boys from North Academy to gasp as he then explained that he belonged at Duel Academy.

"Well, this is unexpected," said Rose as they watched Chancaler Sphered get a kiss.

"Yeah," said Bastion and Alexis in agreement. The group then turned to watch the submarine leave.

"There is one thing, Chazz," said the Chancaler.

"What's that?" asked Chazz.

"Banner."

"Since you dropped out of Duel Academy and are now coming back, you are technically a new student. And therefore, must start from the bottom: at Slifer Red!" said Banner in a cheery voice.

"SLIFER!" yelled Chazz in shock,

"Yes! Welcome! We'll get you fitted for a blazer as soon as we get back to the dorm. Then, we'll find you a roommate."

"Roommate!? Look here, Chazz Princeton rooms alone! You guys got that?"

"Alone, huh? Do cockroaches count?" asked Syrus in a mocking voice and a smile on his face.

"What?!"

"The dorms got a few, and some rats," said Jaden in a cheerful voice.

"RATS! I change my mind! Turn the sub around!" cried Chazz.

"Guys! How 'bout we give him the Slifer cheer!" said Jaden as he turned to the group, obviously having fun messing with Chazz.

"I don't want it!" yelled Chazz at Jaden as the Slifer's began to cheer.

"Well then, this has definitely been an eventful day," said Rose as she laughed.

"Indeed, it has," said Bastion with a smirk as they watched Chazz try to strangle Jaden.

 **'We are one big dysfunctional family, that's for sure,'** thought Rose with a smile.


	14. Grave Risk

Episode(s): 27-28

 **'I wonder if Professor Banner is okay?'** thought Rose as she looked at Banner after the explosion he caused.

"Well, that's the bell," said Alexis as she looked at Rose.

"OH!" said Banner. "I almost forgot. I'm, uh, planning a little field trip!"

"Great. To where?!" asked Jaden in excitement. "Circus, carnival?!"

"Even Better! We're taking a ten-mile hike! All the way to the excavated ruins, were we'll be taking geologic core samples! Saturday at 7 a.m. Don't be late!"

 _ **~Saturday at 7 A.M.~**_

"Only five?! Where is everyone else?" said Banner in distress as he looked at the only four students who showed up: Jaden, Rose, Chumley, and Syrus.

"They're probably sleeping, professor," said Syrus. "You know, in their nice, warm beds? With their nice comfy pillows."

"Just like I would be doin' if Banner didn't threaten us with detention if we didn't show!" said Chumley in annoyance. "It's 7 a.m. in the morning, I need my beauty sleep."

"Hmm. I'll tell ya what the secret to getting' up early is," said Jaden as he turned to Rose with a smile, "stayin' up all night long!"

"To tell you the truth, we could hardly sleep too," said Alexis as she smiled at Jaden.

"Yeah, the ruins we're going to used to host the shadow games!" said Rose in excitement as she smiled at Jaden, causing him to smile more.

"That's sweet!" he said to her before turning to look at Alexis. "Maybe you can find some clues, you know, about your brother!"

"Yeah, that's kind of what I'm hoping for," said Alexis as she looked down at the ground.

"Now, we must be careful as we approach the ruins," said Banner as everyone looked at their devices. "Inside is an ancient tomb!"

 **'How interesting,'** thought Rose as she went through the pictures on her device.

"Ok everyone. Let's go!" said Banner as he started to walk toward the ruins with everyone fallowing him.

 _ **~After Some Time Hiking~**_

"If someone doesn't shut Chumley up soon, we are going back with one less person," said Rose in annoyance as the others looked at her scared.

"Oh, look! We're finally here!" said Banner in happiness as he looked forward. He then turned to look at the group. "Isn't it just amazing!"

"They look all ruined!" said Jaden with wide eyes and a smile.

"That's cuz they're ruins," said Alexis as she and Rose laughed.

"It's in the name, Jay," said Rose, causing Jaden to rub his head in embarrassment.

"It's beautiful!" said Banner. "You can still make out the faded remains of the Oculus! Ohh! And the Fastigium! No doubt inspired by Amenemhet of Saqqarah!"

"He sure seems excited to see some rocks," said Syrus as he and Chumley sat down.

"Yeah, well I'm excited to sit down," said Chumley with an attitude.

"Yeah, and while we're at it, how about we chow down!" said Jaden in excitement.

"I don't see why not," said Banner as he looked at the group. "And then, we'll hit a few cenotaphs, some caryatids, a couple sarcophaguses. Or is it sarcophagi?"

 **'I'm so happy to be eating,'** thought Rose as she took a bite of her rice ball, ignoring everything else around her.

"Wait!" yelled Jaden as he stood up and turned to Banner. "You get to eat pizza!"

"I'm a teacher! I need a big meal to do teacher stuff!" said Banner as he held his bag to him. He searched in his bag, only to see the Pharaoh had eaten his pizza. He turned to his students with tears in his eyes. "Maybe you could share your lunch with me?"

"Sorry, we're your students. We need these to learn!" said Jaden as everyone looked at Banner with their eyes closed.

"Yeah, like learn you weren't gonna share!" said Chumley.

"But of course, I was going to share," said Banner.

"Share what?" asked Rose as she glared at the teacher. "Pepperoni breath all day?"

"Look, I have mints!" said Banner as he tried to bribe his students, only to be interrupted by green lights shooting out from the floor.

"What's going on?" asked Jaden as they all watched in shock.

"That's one powerful mint!" said Chumley as they all looked up.

"Is anyone else seeing in triplicate?" asked Banner as the moon, or sun, they couldn't really tell, split into threes.

"This is the most licious field trip ever!"

"Oh, wow," said Syrus as they all looked up, impressed. "That's neato!

' _ **Hmm,'**_ hummed Rose Guardian as she appeared near Rose.

' **Run? But why?'** thought Rose in return.

"But it looks so cool," said Jaden.

"Quick children!" yelled Banner, scaring everyone. "Head for cover!"

They all turned and ran. Going toward the ruins.

"We will find safety over in that Sepulcher!" yelled Banner.

"The what?" yelled the students.

"The thing with the hole in it!"

"Jaden! Let's go!" yelled Rose as she grabbed Jaden's hand when she noticed he had stopped and everyone had run past him. He didn't look at her but looked at everyone hiding.

"You guys stay in there," he said as he tightened his grip on Rose's hand, "We'll lead this storm away!"

"Rose! Jaden!" yelled Alexis in shock as Jaden pulled Rose with him.

"Where is he going? And why take Rose? At least let her save herself!" freaked out Chumley.

"He's going nuts!" said Syrus as he looked at the other two of his friends.

Jaden ran as he pulled Rose with him. The two ran for a while until the lights caught up with them.

"Ughh!" said the two as they were surround in a bright light, and everything went dark.

 _ **~After Some Time~**_

"Hmm," mumbled Rose as she opened her eyes. She looked around to see Jaden next to her, looking forward.

"Whoa," he said, "think I took a wrong turn."

"What's going on?" asked Rose as she sat up.

Kuriboh made a noise of agreement while Rose Guardian looked over the two humans.

"Yeah, we're not in Kansas anymore, Kuriboh," said Jaden as he nodded.

"What's that?" asked Rose as she turned to look behind her.

"It's the entrance to the ruins," said Jaden as he stood next to her, "but it's not. . . ruined."

"We can't be dreaming. That would be crazy," said Rose as she looked at Jaden and Kuriboh.

"To bad you can't just pinch my cheeks so I can wake up, huh?" said Jaden with a laugh as Kuriboh then pinched him. This shocked the two students. "Ow! Did you sharpen those? How about a manicure ever once and a while?"

"I think our biggest concern should be: how are you able to feel him!" said Rose as she smacked Jaden.

"This is a first!" yelled Jaden as he grabbed Kuriboh, only to be stopped when someone cleared their throat.

"This is sacred ground! You must leave here immediately," said a women as she looked at the two. "You are in very grave danger."

"Wow. What dorm are those cloths from?" asked Jaden.

"None," replied Rose as she narrowed her eyes. The women looked to her side in shock and rushed forward, grabbing the bag on the floor and holding onto Rose's right arm, causing Rose to grab Jaden with her left hand.

"Hey!" yelled Jaden as he and Rose were pushed into the wall/

"Quiet!" said the women as she put her hand on their shoulders. "Or do you wish to share the other's fate?"

"What other's?" asked Jaden as he pulled Rose closer to his side, causing her to blush.

"Shh!" said the women.

"Huh?" said Jaden as the women pressed closer to them. They listened and then watched as strange men walked by.

"They dress weirder than Dr. Crowler!" said Jaden, in shock.

"What's going on here?' asked Rose as she glared at the women as said women began to explain the danger their friends were in.

"Take us to them, right now!" said Jaden in anger.

"So be it, you were warned," said the women as she gave Jaden back his backpack. She then turned and started to walk away.

As they walked, they talked about how they got to that place as well as Jaden talked about getting a tan, causing Rose to hit him.

"That's not important now!" she said, making him laugh nervously.

"You will wait here," said the women as she led the two to a room.

"No, we won't!" yelled Jaden in anger. "We want to see our friends!"

"I will find them," said the women, leaving no room for argument. "Believe me, if you're found walking about, you will be of no use to them. I'll be back."

"Fine," said Jaden as Rose looked around.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

The two were just sitting on the floor when Jaden started freaking out while being angry at the same time.

 **'I don't know if I should be impressed with that or not,'** thought Rose as she watched Jaden climb up to look through the hole above them. She sweat drop when she looked up at him. She was about to say something when she noticed someone in front of her.

"Shit," she said as she stood up and was about to call for Jaden when one of the men grabbed her and covered her mouth.

"What do you think Rose?" asked Jaden as he got down to talk to her, only to notice he was surrounded. "Oh fuck!"

"Where's my manners?" asked Jaden with a nervous smile as he had spears pointed at him. "My name is Jaden Yuki! And your name would be?"

"I'm the Gravekeeper Chief," said the lead man as he looked at Jaden, "and you have traversed upon the sacred tomb that I protect."

"Sounds good to me, pal!" said Jaden with a nervous smile. "So how about I just go an grab my friend's downstairs and you give me Rose and we'll say our good-byes to you then zip back to the dimension we came from. . ."

"That is not possible."

"And why not!?"

"Because, fool, you have tread upon my domain," said the man, "and you will be punished, along with your friends."

Jaden attempted to argue with the man, but once he saw a spear being put to Rose's neck, he stopped and glared.

"Leave her alone!" he yelled in anger.

"You show some spirit, stranger," said the Gravekeeper Chief. "I shall pardon your trespasses given you can survive my challenge. What is your answer?"

"Well, what's the challenge?" asked Jaden as the Chief took out a deck.

"A duel?" said Jaden in shock and happiness.

 **'Why a duel?'** thought Rose. ' **I mean, I get that we go to a school for dueling, but why can't it be like a fight or something?'**

"Buried alive! Then who will save my friends!?" yelled Jaden in shock.

"Don't worry, they will be buried along with you!" laughed the evil man.

 _ **~New Location~**_

The group moved to a new location for the duel. Rose being tied up and put into a sarcophagus alongside her friends.

"Hey guys," said Rose with a smile.

"Don't be happy!" yelled Syrus as he freaked out.

"Don't worry, Jaden is dueling so we are bound to get out soon," said Alexis. Rose sighed.

"What's wrong Rose?" asked Banner.

"I'm just upset that I got caught," she said as they looked up to see the duel. **'Though I'm more worried with how we even got here in the first place. And where did that women go?'**

 **'Hmm,'** said Rose Guardian as she appeared next to Rose. **'I'm sorry for not warning you beforehand.'**

 **'It's fine,'** thought Rose in return. **'I feel like we were brought here for a reason, but what could that reason?'**

"Hello! No joke it's real!" said Banner as the sarcophaguses closed a little.

"I guess every time Jaden gets attack, they close," said Rose out loud.

"I'm claustrophobic! For real!" said Syrus.

"Yeah, so am I!" said Chumley.

"It's only just started, yet he is already down to 1,500 life points!" said Rose in shock.

"This is bad," said Alexis.

"We have to hope for the best," said Banner.

"If he makes even a couple more mistakes, we're through!" said Alexis in fright.

"Alright! Make your move! The quicker I win this thing, the quicker I get my friends back!" said Jaden in determination.

"He will win! He has to! Besides, he would never just leave us here," said Rose as she tried to remain calm.

"Yes, let us all listen to Rose," said Banner before he started to freak out. "Though, I am scared right now!"

 **'Was he trying to make us feel better?'** thought the students with sweat drops.

"It's a good thing I have those mints!" yelled Banner as the sarcophaguses closed more, preventing the group from seeing what was going on during the duel.

 **'I don't think it matters,'** thought Rose as she closed her eyes.

"I know Jaden can find a way!" said Rose.

"I hope," said Chumley and Syrus.

"Oh, no. It's no use! We're done for!" said Banner, causing the two boys to freak out even more.

"He's still winning!" said Syrus as he pointed out the life points.

"He has no monsters on the field!"

"Shut up!" said Rose in annoyance.

"Yes ma'am," said the two scared males.

"Note to self, never piss of Rose," mumbled Chumley to himself.

"Do you think Jaden can do this?" asked Alexis to Rose.

"I know he can!" said Rose. "The worst part is I can't see what's going on now!"

"I still have a good view," said Syrus. "It's a good thing that Kuriboh was there!"

"You can say that again, Sy!" said Chumley. "His effect makes it so Jaden doesn't take any damage during the turn that he's destroyed."

"That's true," said Alexis. Now we just have to worry about next turn."

"Now Jaden doesn't have any monsters out!" said Rose in realization. **'I really wish I could see what was going on!'**

"Does this guy have a problem with the way Jaden speaks?" asked Syrus in confusion.

"From the sound of it, I would have to say yes," said Banner with a sweat drop.

"Wait! Did he just say summon himself? Someone tell me what the hell is going on!" yelled Rose in annoyance. "Does that count as cheating?"

"Behold! The power of the shadow game!" said the Gravekeeper Chief.

"Shadow game?" said Jaden in shock. "Is that what this is?"

"Yes! And in a matter of time, you, your life points, and your friends will be gone!" he said as the sarcophagus nearly closed.

"JADEN!" yelled Rose in fear. **'I may not of been claustrophobic before, but I might just end up being so when this is done.'**

"IT'S CLOSEING MORE!" yelled Syrus in fear.

"JADEN!" yelled everyone as it sounded like Jaden was crying.

"Hahaha! I'm having a blast!" said Jaden.

"Your friends' lives hang by but a thread, and you, you say, that you are having a blast!?" asked the Gravekeeper Chief with a smirk.

"Ya got that right!" said Jaden as he stood up. "Cuz no thread's about to be cut, I'm just one turn away from winnin' this duel!"

"You are wrong! And once you see what I'm about to play, you will see why!"

"Come on Jaden!" yelled Banner.

"Don't lose!" yelled Chumley.

"At least try to say something supportive," said the girls in annoyance.

"Have you not met me?" asked Chumley,

"He has a point," said Syrus.

"If Jaden is unable to summon a monster, we are all doomed!" said Banner.

"I use Nightshades special ability from the graveyard! It allows me to summon a monster without any sacrifices, one time! And one time is all I need because I summon Elemental Hero BladeEdge!" yelled Jaden as he summoned his monster. "And now, attack Gravekeepers Curse!"

"What's going on!" yelled Syrus as they felt everything around them move.

"Jaden won!" yelled Rose as the sarcophagi's opened for her.

"We're free!" said Syrus in happiness.

"Whoa, turn down the lights man," said Chumley.

"I love light! Light is my friend!" said Banner.

"They disappeared," said Alexis as hers and everyone else's bindings disappeared.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"Way to play, Jay!" yelled Syrus.

"I knew you would pass this test, Jaden! I just knew it!" said Banner.

 **'Yeah right,'** thought the other students.

"Wait, what do you meant test? Don't you mean challenge?" asked Jaden.

"Yes, of course, test, challenge, it is all the same, am I right?" said Banner as his students turned to look at him. "All that matters is you won! Isn't that right, guys?"

"Well then, it's time for you and your friends to return to your own world," said the Gravekeeper Chief.

"Sounds good to me!" said Jaden as he turned to look at the man. "So, how do we get back?"

"Go to the gate of the tomb just as the three lights combine into one so that the veil of radiance appears before you."

"Oh-kay?" said Jaden, completely confused.

"What's happening?" asked Rose as she turned to see the guards coming up to them. Jaden and the others turned to see what she was talking about.

"Fools! What are you doing?" asked the Chief.

"They must be punished, either by you or by us!" said one of the guards, causing the others to start to huddle up.

"Punish! Punish!" they chanted.

"What the?" said Jaden in shock as he backed up.

"Stop! He has paid for his misdeeds, he has passed the challenge!" said the Chief as he step in front of Jaden. "His freedom has been earned!"

"Jaden!" yelled Rose as the guards got read to attack, only for them to be stopped by Gatekeepers Assailant.

"It's you!" said Jaden and Rose in shock as they saw the women's face.

"I'm sorry I fought you, but I had to obey my Chief," she said.

"Hey, it's cool," said Jaden as he looked at her.

"Uh, hey Jaden," said Syrus, catching his friend's attention, "don't you think it's rude to not introduce me – I mean, us to your friend?"

The others just sighed.

"Go find your own friends," said Jaden in an annoyed voice.

"When you finally return to your world," started Assailant, "please give a message to the owner of the other half. Tell him Yasmin is still in the other world, but I haven't forgotten him. And that I believe that one day, we will meet again."

"Oh, boyfriend?" said Jaden as he scratched his cheek, causing the others to look at him.

"You weren't getting any ideas, were you?" asked Rose as she glared at him.

"No ma'am!" said Jaden **. 'You're to cute for me to do that.'**

"Stand back! He has won the challenge and we must honor our word!" said Assailant to the other guards. We are the keepers of the graves, not the makers! If you want to harm any of them, you'll have to go through me!"

"They parted," said Alexis as the group watch the men make a path for them.

"I would hurry."

"For sure, but, uh, how do we leave again?" asked Jaden. She just turned to smile at the group.

"Oh, I think some friends will help show you the way."

"Huh?" said Jaden and Rose as their monsters appeared.

"They want us to follow!" said Rose as she started to run after them, causing the others to follow.

"Thanks Yasmin!" yelled Jaden.

"Let's go students!" yelled Banner as everyone pushed themselves.

"The lights! They're combining! We've gotta hurry!" yelled Jaden as they neared the entrance of the ruins.

"Ah!" yelled Chumley as he fell.

"Chumley! Are you okay?" asked Jaden as he ran back to him.

"Old tricycle injury," said Chumley, holding his leg.

 **'Why don't I believe that?'** questioned everyone else.

"Just go without me! You don't have time to wait!" he said as they all looked up.

"Let's go, Chumley!" said Jaden as he went to pull him up, only for one of Chumley's monsters to pull him up and run him to the entrance, causing the others to follow.

"It's now or never, guys! Let's make tracks!" yelled Jaden.

As they got to the entrance, green lights shot up into the air, surrounding them in their light. The group screamed as they began to disappear.

 _ **~Back In The Normal World~**_

"Hmm?" hummed Jaden as he opened his eyes. He turned to his right and noticed Rose resting her head on his shoulder. "Hey, guys?"

He carefully moved Rose so that she was sitting up on her own and turned to look at everyone else. He then looked down and noticed his Winged Kuriboh card on the floor. He picked it up and tried to wake everyone up, but then stopped to let them sleep.

"Must of all just been a hallucination from those moldy sandwiches," he said as he looked at his chest, only to notice the amulet he had been given. "or not. Well, at least we're back to only having one sun. Even so, I have a feeling that the shadows will be back."


	15. VS Darkness

Episode(s): 29-30

"Just a moment there, Jaden," said Banner, causing everyone to turn and see Jaden about to eat his lunch. "I'm afraid your lunch will have to wait."

 **'Why is he eating in class?'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"It seems Chancaler Shepard wants a word with you."

"Jaden, what did you do?" asked Syrus with a whiney voice.

"Maybe it's good, like an award!" said Jaden in excitement.

"Heh heh! No way!" said Chazz as he stood up, causing others to turn to him. "It's never good news with Sheppard. You are so busted!"

"Actually, Chazz, he wants to see you too!" said Banner with a smile on his face,

"He wha?" Chazz said as he looked at Banner in shock.

"And two others," continued Banner as if Chazz hadn't said anything and looked at the two unnamed students. "You, Bastion, and you, Rose."

"This doesn't sound good," said Jaden as he looked on in shock.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"Um, we're not going to make a run for it, Professor Banner, you don't have to escort us to Chancellor Sheppard's office," said Jaden in annoyance.

"Yes, I do," replied Banner. "You see, he wants to see me as well!"

"Well, well," said Crowler as he and Zane stopped in front of the other group in front of the door to the office. "Look at this convocation of students! Some of the best duelists in the school, I see."

 **'Here we go,'** thought Rose and Zane as they looked at each other and then back at Crowler as he bent over to be in front of Jaden.

"Uh-oh! Which one of these is not like the other," he sang with a smile. "Clearly, someone here is a little bit lost."

"He is not. Chazz was invited!" said Jaden with a smile. **'I'm not as stupid as you think!'**

"He means you!" yelled Chazz in response.

"Shall we go in?" asked Banner with a smile as he opened the door while the others followed him in.

 _ **~After An Explanation~**_

The group stood in front of the Chancellor in a row. Crowler, Zane, Jaden, Chazz, Rose, Bastion, and Banner. Jaden had tried to stand next to Rose, but Chazz had beaten him to it. Zane stood between Jaden and Crowler to prevent Crowler from doing anything to the younger student.

"Three sacred what cards?" asked Jaden in shock.

"Beasts," replied Sheppard as he turned around to look at the group. "And due to their immense power, their colossal might, they were hidden here."

"Sweet! Like, under someone's mattress or in a cookie jar?" asked Jaden as he put his hand to his chin to think.

"Hey! Let him finish!" said Chazz in annoyance.

"They're not in a cookie jar," said Sheppard with a smile. "They're actually much closer than you'd ever think. Right below you!"

Everyone gasped in shock.

"You see, this academy was built in part to protect the sacred beast cards. They were buried deep underground, their powers sealed safely away. After all, legend says if these cards ever see the light of day, terrible things will happen: buildings will crumble, light will fade, souls will fall, our world will be no more."

"No more?" said Bastion in shock.

"Hmm," hummed Chazz.

"So where are these cards?" asked Jaden as he looked around. "I say we take 'em out for a spin!"

"Haven't you been listening!?" yelled Crowler.

"So, this is why the seven of you are here," said Sheppard as if he was never interrupted, "to protect these three cards from the wicked ones."

"The wicked ones?" questioned Zane.

"That's right. Seven duelists known as The Shadow Riders who covet these cards. And I'm afraid one of them is already here. He arrived in the think of last night's storm."

"Naturally," said Bastion, unimpressed.

"So how do we protect the cards?" asked Rose.

"By protecting the Seven Spirit Gates," explained Sheppard. "To get to the cards, one must unlock them. And to unlock them, one must gain the Seven Keys from each gate. That is how we will protect those cards, by protecting the keys, and here they are: one for each of you to guard."

Everyone gasped in shock and surprise.

"Wait, so, we hold the keys?" aske Bastion for clarification. "Won't that make us targets?"

"It's true," started Sheppard in sadness, "with these keys, the Shadow Riders will seek you out."

"Uh, seek us out?" asked Chazz in anger. "You mean take us out."

"Only. . . In a duel!"

' **I wonder if anyone else realizes that the world can only be saved by a duel. Isn't that a little much?'** thought Rose with a sweat drop as everyone else gasped.

"That's right, fortunately for our side, the keys can't simply be stolen! An ancient edict commands the keys must be won in a duel. And so, I've called on our school's seven best, to take up this challenge and fight the good fight! Well," said Sheppard as he coughed into his fist, "five best, really, but I needed seven so, you know."

' **Hah, he means the teachers,'** thought Rose with a smirk as Bastion nudged her to keep her from laughing.

"He certainly doesn't mean me!" yelled Crowler to Jaden. Jaden just glanced at him and huffed.

"Of course, if any of you don't think you're up to it, and feel like backing out, I won't blame you. After all, these Shadow Riders. . . play for keeps. So, who feels like saving the world?"

Everyone hesitated and looked at each other, but not Jaden.

"HA HA! Count me in!" he said as he grabbed a key and put it around his neck. "How 'bout that! It's my size!"

"I, too, accept," said Zane after chuckling at what Jaden said. He grabbed a key and put it on.

"It would be my honor," said Bastion as he grabbed a key as well.

"If I leave it to you boys, something is bound to go wrong," said Rose as she grabbed a key. Chazz grunted and grabbed a key as well.

"How could I refuse?" said Crowler with a smirk. "I mean, our very world is at stake! Our way of life! The future of the school! And if I said no, I wouldn't get this very posh piece of jewelry!"

"Yes, well," said Sheppard as Crowler grabbed a key, "good to know you're doing it for the right reasons, kind of."

"Well then! I'm the last one!" said Banner as he grabbed the last key and held it, only for Pharaoh to start playing with it.

"Well, let's get started!" said Jaden, full of energy. "I think that the best duelist should go first so that would mean. . . well, me!"

"You!? You couldn't beat a drum!" yelled Crowler, causing Jaden to freak out and fall to the floor, causing Bastion and Rose to chuckle. "Obviously, I should duel first. If not, I say Zane. After all, he did beat Jaden."

"How annoying," mumbled Rose as Crowler started to brag to Jaden.

"Indeed," replied Bastion.

"Forget them both!" said Chazz with a smirk. "I'm clearly the best choice. Of course, next to you my beautiful Rose!"

"Thanks?" asked Rose as she backed up toward Bastion, causing both Jaden and Chazz to glare at said boy.

"There's no choice!" said Sheppard, interrupting. "This isn't some tournament where we choose who goes first. This is war! You can be attacked by your enemy at any time, at any place! So, my students, be on guard."

"Right," said everyone as they left and went on with their day.

 _ **~That Night~**_

Rose was walking toward the Slifer Red dorms at night. Worried about her friends and their safety.

 **'If what Chancellor Sheppard said was right, these Shadow Riders are the ones who decide who to duel, they'll go after the person they think is the weakest. With his red jacket, they'll definitely go for Jaden first, though they should be going for Crowler if that is their real plan. Either way, I've got to warn Jaden because there is no way he actually thought about it.'** Thought Rose with a sigh as she walked.

As she walked closer to the dorm, she noticed a light coming from Jaden's room.

"Shit!" she said as she ran toward the room. She grabbed the door knob and threw it open. "JADEN!"

"Rose?" asked Jaden in shock.

"What's happening?"

"The first duel is happening!" laughed a crazed voice as a light engulfed them.

"Where are we?" asked Rose as they looked around.

"In one very weird dream," said Jaden as he crawled to the edge to see lava. Fire shot up in front of Jaden, scaring the two.

"Or a nightmare!" said Rose as the fire turned into a Dragan that growled at them.

"It's neither!" said a voice as the dragon hit the ground and made an explosion in which someone walked out of.

"What's going on?" asked Jaden as he stood up in front of Rose.

"Yu mean you don't know?" asked the man in a mocking voice. He had an all-black outfit and a black mask.

"Call me a slow learner."

"And call me Nightshroud!" said the mysterious man.

"If we must," said Rose with attitude. **'Never get to relax.'**

"I'll be the one taking that key you have around your neck!"

"Wow, you guys don't waste much time, do ya?" said Jaden, unimpressed.

"Nice medallion," said Nightshroud as his and Jaden's medallion piece glowed. "The gravekeeper must be getting sloppy, But if you think you'll be able to beat me as easy as you beat me. You have another thing coming. I'll get that key. And I'll get it now! Oh, and to just make sure of that, I brought friends."

"What's that mean?" asked Jaden in fear. Fire shot up around them.

"Say hello to Syrus and Chumley!"

"Oh no," said Jaden as he looked in shock.

"Jaden!" yelled Syrus, causing the others to turn to the side and see him and Chumley in a protective sphere near the lava.

"Help us!" yelled Chumley.

"I feel bad for them for being your room mates," said Rose with concern.

"Looks like they're in hot water," said Nightshroud.

"Lame and not the time!" yelled Rose in response.

"Such is the nature of shadow game, key-keeper!"

"Shadow game! Listen! Just duel me!" yelled Jaden. "But let them go!"

"I don't think so! I need them to insure a speedy match. After all, that protection orb they're in, well, let's just say that it's not exactly built to last. Oh! And, I'm afraid that there's more, too. For you see, also at stake is your soul, which will be sealed in this card when you lose. Of course, if I lose, then my soul will be sealed. But hey, let's be honest with ourselves: Me lose? No way. Now then, shall we?"

"This is crazy, Jaden," said Rose in shock, "but I don't think that you have a choice."

"I agree," said Jaden. "Okay pal! You wanna duel! You got it!"

"Good luck, Jay!" said Syrus.

"And just let us know, you know, if we can help," said Chumley.

"How the hell are you gonna do that?" asked Rose as she looked at the two hostages with a raised eyebrow.

"I will do it in spirit," replied Chumley in uncertainty.

"So, you want Jaden to lose?"

"WIN THIS JADEN!" freaked out Chumley when lava launched up into the air.

"Alright! Let's through down!" said Jaden is he put his deck into his disk. "Get your game on!"

"You wanna see game?" asked Nightshroud as he drew a card and placed one facedown. "How's this? He's called Troop Dragon and I'll have him defend me, plus, I'll place a facedown while I'm at it."

"Make sure to think things through, Jaden, your life, and the life of the others, count on it," said Rose as she watched.

"Right! Let's see how he stacks up against my dragon slayer: Elemental Hero Wildheart!" said Jaden as he played his card. "Show 'im that big bad sword isn't just for show! Attack!"

"Oh, you know, there was something that I forgot to mention," said Nightshroud with a smirk, "Troop Dragon's special ability lets me summon another Troop Dragon whenever he's sent to the graveyard!"

"Hence the word Troop," said Jaden in annoyance.

"That's right, and I'm not done yet! Now, I'll play my facedown: Call of the Haunted! This let's me dig from my graveyard a monster that was previously destroyed. Such as, the Troop Dragon! But wait! There's much more where that came from!"

"Great," said Rose in annoyance as she glared at the masked man.

"Now I'll trade in my Troop Dragons to summon. . ."

"Summon what?"

"Aw, boy," said Jaden.

"The Red Eyes Black Dragon!" said Nightshroud. "Now, Red Eyes! Attack Wildheart! Inferno Fire Blast!"

"Jaden!" yelled Rose as she gritted her teeth. Jaden barely managed to stop himself from crashing into her as he was thrown back from the blast. He held onto his chest in pain, rising Rose's concern for him.

"That hurt," said Jaden in annoyance.

"That's right!" said Nightshroud. "And it's about to hurt a lot more, ley-keeper! Because the true pain is about to begin!"

"You got this Jaden," said Rose as she glared.

"Yeah, my draw!" yelled Jaden. "All right! I play the spell card: Polymerization! And, with Clayman and Burstinatrix in my hand, I'll fuse them to create: The Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster! And even in defense mode, she can still blast you with half her attack points! So, go ahead and let him have it, Blaster! And don't pull any firepower! Rampart Barrage!"

"Yes!" said Rose with a smile. ' **If he keeps this up, he'll win for sure!'**

"And don't forget she's still in defense! So, if yaw anna get to me, you'll have to get through her. Pretty sweet there, dontcha think?"

"Enough!" yelled Nightshroud. "You fool! That Blaster doesn't change a thing! But you can bet this next card will. It's going to change your life points, Jaden. Oh, and not in a good way! You see, Jaden, your Blaster can't protect you from my Red Eyes' Attack!"

"Hmm," hummed Jaden as he then smiled. "Alright, I'll bite why not?"

"Because this time, his attack is an actual card! Inferno Fire Blast!"

"A card!" said Rose in shock as the attack hit.

"Nice card, huh? It's just as strong as my Red Eyes' attack, the only difference is it hits your life points directly!" said Nightshroud as Jaden's life points went down to 700. "And I'm not through with you yet, Key-keeper! Next I summon Attachment Dragon! But don't worry, he's not the attacking type, see, like his name suggests, he's a lot more of the attaching type! Show him Dragon!"

"Where'd it go?" asked Rose in shock as the Dragon disappeared. She gasped when she saw it attach itself to Jaden's Blaster.

"Blasters made a new friend! A friend that forces her into attack mode! And because she is, no more direct attacks!"

"Shit," said Jaden as he gritted his teeth. "Alright! My turn!"

 **'And from the way that orb is disappearing, maybe my last chance to save my friends and the world,'** thought Jaden as he drew a card. "I play the spell card Pot of Greed! And if that's not enough for ya, I play de-fusion, too! Come apart, Rampart Blaster! And Attachment Dragon, attach yourself to the graveyard! Next from my hand, I'll activate Fusion Sage! And that means I can now fuse the Clayman in the field with the Sparkman in my hand to create the Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

 **'It's an even match-up!'** thought Rose as she watched **. 'Hopefully he can win this soon so that the boys to fry to death.'**

"Alright, time to see who blinks first!" said Jaden with a smile. "Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, Attack Red Eye's Black Dragon with Voltic Thunder!"

"Go, Inferno Fire Blast!"

"What was the point, Jaden?" asked Rose as both monster were destroyed.

"The point is, now that, that Red Eyes is gone, Nightshroud is directly in Burstinatrix's line of fire, and I do mean fire! Attack, Fire Storm!" yelled Jaden in happiness as Nightshroud's life points went down to 1,800.

 **'Why doesn't he react?'** thought Rose as she looked at Nightshroud. **'He has to be in a lot of pain, yet he makes no movements what so ever.'**

"I play Mirage of Nightmare!" said Jaden.

"With that spell card, during Nightshroud's standby phase, Jaden gets to draw cards until he has four in his hand!" said Rose in excitement. "Then in his own standby phase, he has to randomly discard the same number of cards he drew, to the grave! He must have some sort of plan!"

"I'll also throw down a face down!"

"Good, my draw!" said Nightshroud.

"And mine too! Thanks to my Mirage of Nightmare!"

"Whatever. Just don't forget to discard the same amount of cards during the next turn."

"Actually, Nightshroud, I was thinkin' that maybe I wouldn't."

"Hmm?"

"I play Emergency Provisions! Now, by destroying one spell card on my field, I gain 1,000 life points. And the card that I think I'll destroy is Mirage of Nightmare!"

Jaden's life points went up to 1,700.

' **Now Mirage's discard rule is no longer in effect! He might just win this! He better win this!'** thought Rose to herself as she watched anxiously.

"So, you were able to avoid that Mirage's unpleasantness, but you won't be avoiding this one's: Mirage Dragon!" said Nightshroud. "And despite his name, his attack is no illusion! Go Supreme Blast!"

The attack reduced Jaden's life points to 1,300.

"No, I can't let it end here!" said Jaden.

You don't have to!" said Nightshroud. "Mirage Dragon will end it for you!"

"Chum, If we don't make it through this, I just wanted you to know that you have been a great friend and I love you!" said Syrus, freaking out.

"Hurray, Jay! Sy's getting mushy!" yelled Chumley.

"The orb is disappearing fast, Jaden," said Rose in concern. **'And as much as the boys can be annoying, they are my friends and I don't want to lose them.'**

"Yeah, well, not as fast as the Mirage Dragon's about to!" said Jaden in confidence. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman! And I activate his ability! See, when he's summoned out all by himself, I can draw two more cards, one of which I', gonna use right now!

Silent Doom! It let's me summon one monster from my graveyard to the field in defense mode! And next I'll play the field spell card known as Fusion Gate!"

"What!" yelled Nightshroud in shock.

"Oh yeah! A storm's a 'comin'! And it's comin' for you, Nightshroud! 'Cause now that Fusion Gate is out, I can fuse Bubbleman and Sparkman, who are on my field with Avian, who's in my hand, to create the mighty Elemental Hero Tempest!"

"All right! Way to play, Jay!" yelled Syrus in happiness.

"Yeah! 2,800 attack points!" said Chumley. "That's more than Mirage Dragon!"

"Go Tempest! Attack Mirage Dragon with Glider Strike!" yelled Jaden as his monster attacked, reducing Nightshroud's life points to 600.

"There's that flinch I was lookin' for!"

"No it wasn't! That was a twitch. It's not the same!" yelled back Nightshroud. "I had something in my eye, that's all, you got that? It was a twitch!"

' **Are they seriously going to fight about this?'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"Hey, call it what you want, but there's one thing you can't argue, I'm winnin' the shadow duel now, Nightshroud!" said Jaden in confidence. "And I think I'll end my turn leavin' you with that thought, plus a face down!"

"Ha! You chump. Life points don't decide who's winning the duel," declared Nightshroud. "It's the cards you hold. And if you don't believe me, I'm quite certain that this one here will prove it to you!"

"Yeah, right. I bet that you're just bluffin'," said Jaden. But then dragons started to form from the lava. "or not."

"Jaden!" yelled Rose, bring Jaden's attention to her. She was surrounded by fire, blocking her from Jaden.

"Rose!" yelled Jaden as he looked at her in shock.

"Did you honestly think, key-keeper, that you could ger rid of all my dragons so easily? That you could simply banish them all to the graveyard and then be done with them!? Or that I would allow your girlfriend to go unharmed? After I win, I'm going after her next."

"That's kinda what I was hopin' for," said Jaden with sweat dripping down his face.

"Well, you can just keep on hoping, because I summon the Red-Eyes Black Chick," said Nightshroud as an egg came up and hatched.

"So, then, that's your big card?"

"That's right. Until I use Chick's special ability, that is!" smirked Nightshroud. "You see, by sending Chick to the grave, I'm allowed to summon from my hand, his daddy! The full-grown Red-Eyes Black Dragon!

"Actually, that's not quite true. As big as this Red-Eyes is, they can still get bigger! Red-Eyes, I now sacrifice you to bring out Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!

"Now the molten ashes of my fallen dragons boil up from their fiery graves, ablaze with new life, each granting my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon 300 additional attack points!"

"4,500?" said Rose in shock as she back away from the fire. "He can't withstand that!"

"It's over! The spirit key, your friends, your soul, with Darkness Dragon, they're all mine! So go, Inferno Darkfire! End this!"

"Jaden!" yelled Rose in fear.

"Don't think so! I got a trap! Go, Negate Attack!" yelled Jaden as he managed to save his monster.

"What the-" said Nightshroud in shock.

"That's right! Your attack's been cancelled! And Negate Attack ends your battle phase so you can't attack me anymore this turn!"

"Hmm. Oh, well. Till next time."

"All right! My draw!" yelled Jaden as he drew a card. "First off, I summon Wroughtweiler in defense mode! And I'll switch Elemental Hero Tempest to defense as well! Then I'll call it a turn."

"That's funny. You know what I'd call it? A waste of time. And time, in case you forgot, is very much of the essence right now. Well," said Nightshroud as he turned his head to look at the boys, "at least for your friends who are about to be deep fried, it is!"

"Don't you listen to him, Jaden," said Syrus. "Just concentrate on winning the duel!"

"Aw, deep fried? I'll never be able to look at a French fry again," said Chumley. "Though, I'll probably still be able to eat it."

"Not the time, Chumley," said Rose in annoyance. "Jaden, you need to hurry."

"Yeah, I know," said Jaden with gritted teeth. "That lava is beginning to look really restless."

"It's hotter than my dad's hot sauce in here!" freaked out Chumley.

"La-dee-da. What to do? What to do?" mocked Nightshroud.

"How 'bout ya make your move?" said Jaden in anger.

"Oh, right, it's my turn. Sorry," Nightshroud continued to mock. "I summon Speak Dragon in attack mode! Now, Spear Dragon, give that Wroughtweiler something to chew on! Attack! Cyclone Blast!"

"Wroughtweiler doesn't roll over that easy! See, by sending him to the graveyard, his special ability now activates, one that lets me fetch an Elemental Hero and Polymerization from the grave and put them into my hand! Ahh!"

"Jaden!" yelled Rose as his life points dropped to 600, causing Nightshroud to laugh.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. When Spear Dragon attacks a monster in defense mode, if its attack points are greater than the defending monster's defense points, the difference is dealt to you as damage. However, as you can see, Spear Dragon must then switch to defense mode.

"And now for the matter of your Tempest and his special ability? Since you can save him from being destroyed in battle by sending one card on your field to the graveyard, I'll get rid of the card on your field by playing this! Mystical Space Typhoon!

"Now, key-keeper, just try saving your Tempest! Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack! Inferno Darkfire! It's your move, if you have any strength left to make it!"

"Jaden!" said Rose as she tried to get to him after he had collapsed on the floor, only to be stopped by the fire. "Enough! This duel is over!"

"Says who?"

"Says me and this," said Rose as she made a decision. She grabbed the key around her neck and held it up. "I have a spirit gate key too. Let my friends go and I'll let you duel me for it and have my soul either way."

Nightshroud looked at her in concentration.

' **She reminds me of someone,'** he thought.

"You can't lose! So just let them go and deal with me!" said Rose in determination.

"No!" yelled Jaden as he started to get up. "I won't let you, Rose! I mean, after all. I'm just about to win this!"

"He's delirious," said Rose in fear for her friend.

"I am not! What I am is about to get my game on!"

"Well, you better hurry!" yelled Syrus in fear.

"I don't wanna be a French fry!" yelled Chumley.

"I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart in attack mode! Next I'll activate the spell card Wild Half from my hand. And now Wild Half's gonna cut your monster in half!

"See, what it does is take the original attack points of your Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon and split it by summoning a monster token with the same attack points to the field!"

"But because of all the Dragons in Nightshroud's graveyard, they still have 3,300 attack points each!" said Rose as she watched.

"I'm getting' to that! Next up, is Polymerization! Which I'll use to fuse these two! Now, Wildheart, merge with Bladedge to create the Elemental Hero Wildedge! And one a' the things that puts him on the edge of bein' wild is that he can attack all the monsters you have out at the same time!"

"You just go ahead and do that then!" said Nightshroud in confidence. "He still has less attack points than my dragons."

"Again with the attack points! All right, I guess it's time I finally address that little issue for you guys, or better yet, let Skyscraper do it for me!"

"What?" said Nightshroud in shock.

"That's right! I play the field spell card: Skyscraper!"

"Yes!" said Rose in happiness.

"And once Wildedge is done with your dragons, you're going to be scrapin' them off the pavement! 'Cause here, heroes gain 1,000 attack points!"

"No way!" yelled Nightshroud in shock as Wildedge's attack points went up. "Impossible!"

"All right! Go Jaden!" yelled Rose.

"Now go, Wildedge! Attack the Red-Eyes Dragons and Spear Dragon with Scimitar Slash!"

The monster attack, reducing Nightshroud's life points to nothing. The fire around Rose disappeared, allowing her to get closer to Jaden.

"That's game!"

"No!" yelled Nightshroud as he dropped to the floor, only to be surrounded by fire.

"Sy, Chumley," said Jaden as he dropped next. Rose ran up to him to check on him, only for fire to surround the two, causing her to scream. As everything went white.

 _ **~Outside the Volcano~**_

"Ugh," said Rose as she started to sit up, looking up at Syrus and Chumley as they walked up to her. "He did it! Jaden did it! But, where is he?"

"Look there!" yelled Chumley as he pointed. The other two looked and saw Jaden and Nightshroud on the floor.

"Jaden," they yelled as they ran up to him.

"He's not moving," said Syrus in fear. "Come on, Jay."

"Sy, he's fine!" said Rose as she check his pulse. "Tired, maybe, but who can blame him."

"Not me," said Chumley. "I'm tired and I didn't do a thing."

"Jay, don't do this. Why? Why!" freaked out Syrus.

"He's fine," said Rose with a raised eyebrow and an annoyed voice. She then looked at the card on the floor next to Jaden's hand. "Which is more than I can say for Nightshroud."

Rose picked up the card to see the mask in chains. She then got up and walked to Nightshroud's body. Once she got close enough, she bent down to look at the mans face. She was shocked when he moved his head and opened his eyes.

"Alexis," he said as he looked at her, causing her to gasp, his eyes were unfocused, and he seemed confused. He then passed out.

"It can't be!" said Rose in shock.

"Jaden! Hold on!" yelled Bastion as he, Chazz, and Zane ran up to the group. "We're coming!"

"What happened?" asked Chazz in shock.

"One of the Shadow Riders challenged Jaden to a duel!" said Syrus, after he had calmed down.

"So? What happened? Did he win?"

"He sure did Chazz!" said Chumley as the boys surrounded Jaden.

"So, is that him?" asked Zane as he looked to where Rose was. This caused Rose to turn to him with wide eyes, causing the others to become alarmed.

"Zane," said Rose, causing said boy to walk to her as he noticed her distress.

He came to stand next to her as she held up the body of the Shadow Rider. He was about to tell her to step away from him when she cut him off.

"It's Alexis' brother!" said Rose, shocking Zane.

"Atticus?" he asked in shock.

"It wasn't him before, but that card, the shadow game, took away whatever was controlling him before," explained Rose as she stated her theory. The others came up to her and Zane, Chumley holding Jaden on his back.

"Alexis can have her brother back now!" said Rose with a smile while the others looked at her in shock.

"And if this is what it's like after you win a duel, just think what it's like when you lose," said Zane as he and Bastion helped with picking Atticus up. "The sun may be coming up now, but night will fall again soon, and when it does we must be ready."


	16. Field of Screams

**AN: I will be skipping duels when I don't want to write them or if I want to get chapters out sooner. Sorry in advance.**

Episode(s): 31 – 33

"Ahh!" yelled Jaden as he sat up from his hospital bed.

"Jaden," said Rose in shock.

"I saw a women."

"A women?" asked Syrus in shock.

"Well, you must be fine if you dreaming about women," said Miss Fontane as she walked out. "Though I wonder if it has to be with a beautiful young lady that happens to be here."

"What abut Alexis' brother?" asked Jaden, trying to change the subject as his cheeks burned.

"He's okay, but still unconscious."

 _ **~The Next Day~**_

"How's Jaden?" asked Alexis as she walked up to Syrus and Rose.

"He hasn't said anything since last night," said Syrus with a sad voice.

"Oh."

"How's your brother?" asked Rose. Alexis just shook her head.

"Pretty much the same. But he'll get better. I know it," she turned to her friends and smiled. "He's a fighter, you know?"

"We know," said Syrus with a smile.

"I just hope the rest are as well," started Rose as she looked at Jaden and touched his forehead. "After all, it sounds like the next Shadow Rider is here."

"Rose! Syrus!" yelled Chumley as he threw the door open and walked into the room. "Dr. Crowler's gonna duel against the vampire lady!"

"Great, he'll beat her easy, right?" asked Syrus in hope as he stood up to look at Chumley, Alexis coming to stand next to him.

"He talks a big game, but he plays a terrible one!" freak out Alexis.

"Shit," said Rose. She then got distracted when she saw Kuriboh appear above Jaden. She then noticed that Jaden had woken up. "Jaden?"

"Lets stay here and watch it from here," said Chumley.

"Right," said Syrus as he pulled out his device to watch the duel.

"Jaden," said Rose, again, trying to get his attention.

"I want to help," said Jaden.

"You can't, Jay. You're injured."

"It looks like he's losing!" freak out Syrus.

"He can't!" said Alexis. "If he loses, then we lose a gate key!"

"I need to go," said Jaden, again, as he sat up.

"Jaden!" said Syrus surprised.

"Alright, Jaden," said Rose as she gave him his Jacket and helped him put it on. "Let's go, guys."

 _ **~Sometime After the Boys Left~**_

"Why didn't you go with them?" asked Alexis as she and Rose sat around Atticus.

"If another Shadow Rider came and attacked, I wouldn't want you to be by yourself," said Rose with a smile. "Besides, I already stressed out from watching Jaden duel, I don't want to stress because our idiot teacher is dueling, and Jaden wants to be an even bigger idiot and go while he is in pain."

"I can see that," giggle Alexis.

"We can only hope to see what happens when they get back," said Rose as she looked at her lap.

"What do you think will happen?" said Alexis as she looked at her brother.

"I don't know. We can only hope for the best."

The two then started to talk about random things to pass time, from talking about the latest gossip to talking about some school subjects.

"Girls," said Zane as he and the others walked into the room. He and Bastion were helping support Jaden.

"What happened?" asked Rose as she looked at the boys as they placed Jaden on his bed. She got up and helped him out of his jacket. She folded it up and placed it next to the bed.

"Where's Crowler?" asked Alexis. The boys only looked down. Alexis gasped and looked at her brother as she held his hand, taking comfort in his warmth.

"No," said Rose in shock as she looked toward Zane, who looked straight ahead with anger in his eyes.

"She took his soul and turned him into a doll," said Chazz as he showed them as he moved to sit on the chair in front of Jaden's bed.

"I'll play a trap, then I'll play a spell, and then attack!" yelled Jaden, only to lay down on the bed as his body was in pain. "Well, just as soon as I get better I will. Camula's gonna get it sooner or later. I mean, Takin' that spirit key is one thing, but Crowler's soul, too?"

"Jay, you really ought to rest," said Syrus.

"Sy's right, after all, if we're not at our best, it's our souls that will be sealed in those dolls and our bodies will be catatonic!" said Banner as he began to freak out. This resulting in Pharaoh yelling as he jumped down to hind under Jaden's bed.

"No Pharaoh! Just cause the word has 'cat' in it doesn't mean it applies to you," Banner said as he crawled to get his cat. "Though I'm not sure nine lives makes a difference with vampires."

"The worst part is, since Camula was able to take Crowler's key, she needs just six more to unleash those beast cards," said Bastion, catching everyone's attention.

"Then it won't just be our souls at stake," said Rose as she looked at her friend. "But everyone's in the world!"

"That's it! I'm dueling her – Tonight!" declared Jaden.

"You duel? Think again!" said Chazz as he stood up and covered Jaden with his sheet. "You can't even win a duel with a sheet. This duel is for the Chazz."

"Zane?" questioned Rose as she walked toward her friend while the boys messed around. Zane continued to look forward.

Zane grunted and walked out of the room, Syrus called to him and followed after his brother.

"What's with him?" asked Jaden from his bed.

"Not sure," said Rose as she walked toward her friend to continue talking to them.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

' **What a crazy day,'** thought Rose as she walked to her dorm.

"Rose," said voice.

"Hmm?" hummed Rose as she turned around to see who had called her. "Zane?"

"I need you to do me a favor," said Zane as he walked to stand in front of her. "I'm going to go against Camula, I need you to stay with Atticus."

"What?"

"We can't guarantee they won't come after him if we leave him unprotected. And knowing Alexis, she will get so caught up with everything she wont even bother to think about that."

"I understand," said Rose after a few moments. "I will get somethings and head over there."

"Thank you," said Zane as he started to walk away.

"Make sure to think everything through. Good luck," said Rose. Zane just waved as he walked away.

 _ **~That Night~**_

"What are those bats?" asked Rose out loud as she watched a whole bunch of bats flying outside her room. "Good luck Zane."

' **Please be careful!'** thought Rose to herself as she ran out of her room and toward where Atticus was.

 _ **~Sometime Later~**_

"Rose," said Alexis as she walked into the room. Rose was sitting next to Atticus' bed.

"Alexis? What's wrong?" she asked when she noticed that Alexis' eyes were red.

"Zane lost," said Alexis as tears stared to fall.

"No," said Rose as tears started to well up. The two girls held each other and started to cry.

 _ **~The Next Day~**_

"Jaden," said Rose as she put a towel on his head and cleaned off his forehead.

"Atticus!" said Alexis in shock, causing Rose to turn around to see what was wrong. She gasped.

"You're awake!" said Rose in shock as Alexis took the breathing mask off of him.

"Alexis," said Atticus in a tired voice, "I need to tell you about her. The vampire known as Camula. You can't defeat her like the others."

"But why not?" asked Alexis as she grabbed his hand.

"She has a shadow charm that gives her the power to steal souls. I'm sure you've already seen her use it already, but you can stop her with another charm," said Atticus as he lifted up the charm around his neck.

"That's the other half of Jaden's," said Rose as she came to stand next to Alexis.

"Jaden, take it," said Atticus as he struggled to take it off. Alexis helped him and gave it to Rose, who took it to Jaden.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"The cavalry is here!" yelled Rose as Alexis drove the boat they were in. She stopped the boat in front of their friends.

"We don't need Banner when we've got Jaden!" said Alexis as she got out of the boat.

"Huh?" question everyone as they looked at the boat. They watched Rose move a blanket and Jaden come out.

"What's up?" asked Jaden with a smile.

"For the last time! You can't!" yelled Syrus in retaliation.

"Yeah, you're still hurt, slacker!" said Chazz with a smirk.

"It's true," said Bastion as he put a fist up.

"Maybe, but," started Alexis as she looked at her two friends. Jaden nodded and looked down at his neck as Alexis explained what had happened with Atticus.

"Doesn't scare me," said Chazz as he looked to side.

"So, we fight fire with fire!" said Rose with determination. "We've got our own shadow charm!"

"Compliments of Atticus!" said Jaden with a big grin.

The group looked at him and decided to go and confront the vampire. They walked into the fog and walked up to the same door as last time.

"I'm here for my friends' souls!" yelled Jaden.

"I didn't know the Crowler was our friend," said Rose to Bastion who laughed.

"And I'm not leavin' 'til I get 'em!" continued Jaden with determination.

"Actually, truth be told, dear, you're not leaving here ever again, not a single one of you are!" said Camula with a smirk.

"Get your game on! And I mean on high!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "Because if someone duels my friends and turns them into some dolls, it puts me in a bad mood!"

"And let me tell you something: I don't care!" said Camula.

"Maybe this will change your mind!" said Jaden. "Polymerization! I fuse Elemental Heroes Avian, Sparkman, and Bubbleman. Now introducing: Elemental Hero Tempest!"

"Wow! What a way to start the duel!" said Syrus in awe.

"Jaden wants to end this quickly and with Tempest out there, he just might be able to do it!" said Bastion.

"I wouldn't count Camula out just yet," said Chazz with his arms crossed.

"Yes, after all, we've seen how strong her cards can be, especially that Illusion Gate!" said Banner.

"We'll just have to hope she doesn't get a chance to play it," said Alexis in worry.

' **You better win Jaden!'** thought Rose as she watched.

"Last, I'll throw down a facedown. Let's see what you got!" said Jaden.

"Well, well, if you're in such a hurry to lose, alright, I play. . ." Camula started but then began to laugh after looking at the card she drew. "Illusion Gate!"

"Damn," said Rose with worry as the card's ability activated and everyone cowered away from the smoke. "You got this Jaden!"

"Oh dear, this decision is just far too hard to make," mocked Camula. "Why don't I just put all your friends at stake?"

"What? All of them?" said Jaden in shock.

"Never underestimate the power of the shadows. With this necklace, I can do anything!"

"What's that light?" asked Rose in shock from her spot next to Alexis.

The group watched as Jaden's two halves of the amulet had combined into one whole piece. It caused a bright light to shine from the now complete amulet. The light shot out and fought back the moving shadows, shocking everyone.

"What happened?" asked Chazz.

"Jaden's shadow charm cancelled the power of her necklace!" said Rose in happiness.

"Just in time! I thought we were all done for!" said Bastion with a smile.

"Now, if she wants to use that card, she's going to have to use her own soul," said Rose with a smirk.

"I have a feeling that she is okay with that," said Alexis as Camula did just that and unleashed her cards power.

She used it to get Tempest to fight Jaden and drop his life points to 1,200. She was about to use her Zombie Werewolf to attack, but Tempest started acting up.

"Guess he doesn't like his new boss," laughed Jaden. "But you can forget the two-week notice, I think I'll just play my trap cross heart! And that puts Tempest back on my side!"

"What!?" said Camula in shock as Tempest went back to Jaden. She then got mad. "Go ahead and take him back! I will still win!"

"Looks like Jaden's learned a few new tricks," smirked Chazz.

"There's more were that came from!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "Alright! Time to teach that werewolf pooch a few new tricks! Like how to play dead!"

Tempest attacked the Werewolf and Camula's life points went down to 2,400. This caused Camula to laugh.

"How quickly you forget!" laughed Camula. "When you destroy my Werewolf, another one comes from my deck with a little surprise, 500 more attack points!"

"Maybe a facedown will tame 'im," said Jaden as he put a card facedown.

' **Damn, Jaden, what are you going to do?'** thought Rose as Camula started her turn. Even so, Rose was focused on Jaden. **'You better win Jaden, we have so much riding on this.'**

"Did you see that?" asked Syrus in shock as Vampire Genesis was summoned.

"Unfortunately," said Chumley.

"300 attack points," said Chazz in shock.

"And a powerful special ability, to boot," said Bastion in angered. "Jaden will have his work cut out for him."

"Next, I'll use the spell card Genesis Crisis! Now, every turn a Zombie-type monster is transferred directly from my deck and into my hand! And with Vampire Genesis, I can discard that monster to the graveyard to summon another one! It can be any Zombie monster, as long as it is a lower level! So, I'll be discarding Ryu Kokki to bring back Vamp's best friend: Zombie Werewolf!

"Now, if I recall, your Elemental Hero cannot be destroyed in battle, as long as you sacrifice one of the other cards on your field. And it seems you have one. Pity if something should happen to it like, for example: if it disappeared due to my Giant Trunade!" said Camula as she took Jaden's facedown card.

"How did she know to do that?" asked Syrus in shock.

"I don't know," said Bastion in anger. "Camula knows our decks better than any one and what's more, she's calculated a perfect strategy against them!"

"So, isn't the villain supposed to tell the charming hero how she did it? 'Cuz I'm all ears!" asked Jaden in an attempt to get information. **'I'm totally calling cheating!'**

"You didn't think that my bats were just for decoration did you?" said Camula as her eyes glowed red. "They were spying on each and every one of you! And just as they told me the weaknesses of your pathetic little friends, Crowler and Zane, they told me yours! You can't win!"

' **I can't believe she actually told him,'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"And now! Vampire Genesis, go and attack that Tempest! Crimson Storm!"

"So much for that Elemental Hero Tempest," said Chazz in anger. "Now Jaden's out there like a sitting duck!"

"And I think that Zombie Werewolf likes ducks," said Syrus in fear. "This could be it, guys!"

"This is very anti-lishus!" said Chumley in fear.

"You're through! Zombie Werewolf attack Jaden directly!" said Camula with a smirk as her monster attacked Jaden. She then became angered when she noticed Jaden was still standing. "Well? Fall down! You should have no more life points left!"

"Guess again, Camula!" said Jaden with a laugh.

"How is this?"

"Insurance is how!" said Jaden as he showed a card. "When you sent this facedown card back to my hand, its effect went off, and I got 500 life points just in time!"

' **So now he has 300 life points left. You have to be carful Jaden,' thought** Rose in fear as she looked on.

"I see. How fortunate for you. But you just postpone the inevitable. I activate the magic of Genesis Crisis! And now I'll add yet another Zombie monster from my deck to my hand!" said Camula in anger.

"Jaden's hanging on, but still, Camula has way more life points than him," said Alexis with worry.

"For sure, Shadow charm or not, how could we ever let him duel Camula?" asked Chazz in anger. "He's just not at the top of his game! We might as well hand over our spirit keys right now!"

"There's always hope," said Bastion in annoyance. "But I admit, with that Vampire Genesis and that Genesis Crisis on the field, there isn't much of it."

"Let's bargain with her, maybe put her in touch with the local blood bank?" question Banner with hope.

"I highly doubt that's going to work," said Rose as she looked at her professor with a raised eyebrow.

"I think this is bigger than that, professor, I mean sure, Vampires crave blood, but I think this one craves our spirit keys a lot more!" said Jaden with sweat coming down his face.

"Pathetic mortal, you have no idea what I crave," said Camula in anger. "Centuries ago, the Vampires were a proud and peaceful race. We lived in harmony with our mortal brothers and sisters, that is, until the Dark Times, until the War. No one knew who struck first, but the fighting was fierce, neither soldier nor child was spared the horror as hatred decimated both our peoples.

"I, the last of my race, had no choice but to go into hiding. For years I slept a coffin as my home. Then a stranger approached, the dark power of shadow coursed through his veins. He offered me a choice: spend an eternity in my tomb or accept his shadow charm and join his quest for the sacred beast cards.

"For each duelist that I would best in battle, their soul would be mine! Which I would use to resurrect my defeated army of vampires, and we would suck our revenge from the bloated vein of humanity!"

"Wow, a little to much information there," said Jaden with indifference.

"Agreed," said Rose as she looked uncaring. "Not that it isn't a sad story, but really?"

"So, if I go down right now, you'll get my key and my soul to start a vampire army?"

"You're smart for a mortal," said Camula with a smirk. "Perhaps you'll do us both a favor and just give up, Jaden."

"He better not!" yelled Rose in anger. Jaden looked at her and smiled.

"Wasn't dreaming about it beautiful!" he said to her, causing her to blush and the others to chuckle at her.

' **Only I can call her that!'** thought Chazz in anger.

"So here goes, somethin'!" said Jaden as he drew a card in determination. "Sweet! I'm startin' with my Pot of Greed! Or, in this case, Pot 'a Need, cuz that's just what I got!

"I play Dark Factory of Mass Production, this lets me take two monsters from the graveyard and put 'em right back in my hand! Now I activate Fusion Gate! You can forget about Polymerization! This baby let's me fusion summon without it!"

"So, what!" said Camula in frustration.

"So, check out Avian 'n' Burstinatrix! Or should I say: Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" said Jaden as he summoned his monster. "There's more! I'm fusin' Wingman and Sparkman to make somthin' even better!"

"Two fusions?" asked Rose in shock.

"I summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman! Alright Flare Wingman! Now let's get our pals'souls back!" said Jaden with a smirk.

"Flare Wingman?! But you've never used that card in your deck before!" Camula said in anger. "You have to be cheating, you put it in there when I wasn't looking, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah! But, ya know, I'm not sure that's cheating," said Jaden with a smile. "I mean, hello, Camula! You were the one spying! And anyway, I didn't even sneak it in anyhow!"

"You lie!"

"Nah, not really! I just figured that since you were all about the shadows, I should pack something that's bright, like the Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman! And, boy, is he! Check out that glow!"

"Fine. Use him. With just 2,500 points, he still won't defeat Vampire Genesis!"

"Actually, Camula, yeah he will. Cause for each of my Elemental Heroes that are just chillin' away back at the graveyard Flare Wingman gains 300 attack points!"

"Then my Vampire," said Camula scared.

"Is about to bite the dust! Shining Flare Wingman, show this lady how we do things back at Duel Academy! Attack Vampire Genesis with Solar Flare!" said Jaden as his monster attacked.

"And when Vampire Genesis is not on the field all zombie type monsters you have out are destroyed!"

' **Come on Jaden,'** thought Rose as the life point dropped down to 2,300.

"Sorry, but it takes more than that to defeat a vampire!" said Camula.

"Good, cuz I got more for ya: Flare Wingman's Special Ability! And it's better than a wooden stake! You get hit for damage equal to the attack points of the monster I just destroyed!"

"No! It can't be!" screamed Camula.

"Yes!" yelled Rose in happiness. "Go Jaden!"

"That's game!" said Jaden with a smile but stopped when the Camula's soul was taken.

"Big bro!" yelled Syrus as he went to where his brother was. The others minus Banner and Chazz stayed behind with a newly appeared Crowler.

"Guys, we got to get out of here!" yelled Rose as the place started shaking.

"Run for it!" yelled Jaden as they started to run. Chumley picked up Zane and they ran for it.

Once outside, the group watched as the castle came down. As it came down, the sun shined, and everyone looked at the lake.

"At last, the nightmare's finally over," said Alexis as Bastion handed Jaden Camula's necklace.

"This one at least. Cuz Camula was just the second of the Shadow Riders and that means more are on the way," said Jaden as he looked at the necklace.


	17. Sibling Rivalry

Episode(s): 35

"What's going on?" asked Rose as she walked up to Bastion and Alexis.

"Everyone things Chazz is going to lose!" said Alexis in worry.

"What!?" said Rose in shock.

"Yes, and he's not taking it well," said Bastion with a hand on his chin. "Jaden tried to make him feel better, but Chazz didn't take it well."

"Honestly Chazz, you're not making any sense," said Bastion as he maneuvered the girls toward the arguing group.

"Huh?" asked Jaden in shock as he looked at his friends.

' **Why is Bastion's hand on Rose's back?'** thought both Jaden and Chazz as they looked at the approaching group.

"Bastion's right," said Alexis. "Being tough is usually a good thing, Chazz."

"Look it's," started Chazz, only to be cut off by Zane.

"It's about Chazz here being too tough," said Zane as he walked up, "specifically his deck. It's about Chazz not even being able to duel."

"What do ya mean?" asked Syrus.

"What he means is that his deck is built with monsters that have attack points over 500. Completely different from what he needs," said Rose as she looked at the boys.

"So then," started Jaden as he looked at Chazz in concern.

"My cars are all too powerful. 'Cause of that condition my bro's set up, my deck is useless. All I've got left is him."

' **A fucking potato,'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"You can't make a deck with one card!" yelled Jaden in concern.

"He may not need to," said a voice. The students turned around and saw Banner sitting on the stairs. "This is but a rumor, but given the circumstances, it may be worth investing.

"Now, supposedly, my students, deep in the woods, sits a very old well and within this well, lay a great many cards. You see, they were discarded there by duelists who believed them too weak to ever use in their decks. Of course, the spirits of all those cards are quite angry for being left behind."

"Oh yeah?" said Chazz in a challenging voice. "Well, the Chazz has a feeling they're going to be perking up real soon. 'Cause I'm gonna find that well and enlisting some new monsters for my deck!"

"Go get 'em Chazz! Save the school!" said everyone in happiness.

 _ **~The Next day~**_

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today's match determines the fate of duel academy! Slade Princeton versus Chazz Princeton!" said the announcer. "Now, are you ready to duel?"

"If you want to back out," said Slade with a smirk. "Tell me now!"

"Does this answer your question?" said Chazz as he brought up his duel disk.

"Bring it!"

"DUEL!" said the two.

"So Syrus, I've been wondering, do you actually use your glasses? I mean, there not in front of your eyes. Do you need them just to read or something?" asked Rose to her friend as the duel went on.

"What?" asked Syrus from the other side of Jaden.

"You know, I've been wondering that too!" said Alexis.

"What?" said a flustered Syrus. The group turned to look at Zane who was sitting behind them.

"I don't know," said Zane as he continued to look at the duel.

"A question with no answer," said Chumley.

"Yup," said Jaden as they turned to look at the duel.

"Shit," said Jaden as Slade made his move.

"With those, he can summon. . ." said Zane in anger.

"King Dragun!" said Slade. "And check out his special ability! Each and every turn he's on the field I get to summon another dragon type monster from my hand! Like this one, for example: Luster Dragon Number Two!"

"Two monsters with 2,400 attack points!?" said Jaden in shock.

"Who cares!" said Chazz with a smirk.

"King Dragun, attack Soul Tiger with Fire Scourge! And Luster Dragon Number Two, attack with Emerald Flame attack!" said Slade as his monster attacked, leaving Chazz with 1,600 attack points.

"He got nailed!" said Jaden as the group watched in awe. He then glanced at Rose. **'Not the kind he wanted.'**

"Well, so much for those defense points," said Bastion.

"Your move Chazz," said Slade with a smirk.

"Come on Chazz!" yelled Rose in encouragement. Said boy blushed and turned to were she was and waved.

"She's only encouraging him so that we don't lose the school," grumbled Jaden, causing Zane, who was behind him, to chuckle.

"This will be easier than I thought," said Slade as he drew a card once Chazz ended his turn. "I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode! And Dragon's ability, summons Hyozanryu!"

"No," said Alexis in shock. The group watched as Chazz's last monster was destroyed. But then little monster went after Slade's monsters.

"It's Multiplication. When unhappy maiden is sent to the grave hundreds of her little friends drop in and end your turn automatically."

"So, you last a bit longer. It doesn't matter!" said Slade in anger.

"Yeah? Wanna bet?" asked Chazz as he drew a card. "I call Spirit of the Breeze in defense mode! And I'll activate the spell card: The Dark Door! And as long as this door is open for business we can only attack with one monster each round!"

"Nice try, bro, but it's just a matter of time before I bust that door down," said Slade as he drew his card. "King Dragun, attack! Fire Scourge!"

Chazz's monster was destroyed, so he summoned Catnip Kitty. It was destroyed and Slade played a facedown/

"A facedown card?" asked Alexis in shock.

"And my gut says that he's planning to destroy Chazz's door with it," said Zane as everyone watched in shock.

"No!" said Rose in shock.

"Chazz's door!" said Syrus as Slade's facedown took it down.

"I play Painful Choice!" said Chazz as he played the card. "I know you're a little slow, so I'll use small words. I pick five cards from my deck. Then you choose one of the cards and that card is added to my hand. So, what are you waiting for? Pick!"

"How scary!" said Slade sarcastically. "Five weak cards from one weak deck. Whatever will I do? I'll pick the one card that's not a monster: Thunder Crash!"

"Thank you!" said Chazz as he discarded the other cards. "I was hoping you'd pick that one!"

"You were?" said Slade in shock.

"But more about that later, now I play Enchanting Fitting Room! I pay 800 points and get to look at 4 cards!" said Chazz as his life points went down to 800. "and, if any of them are level-3 or below monsters, I can summon them!

"Obviously, Pot of Greed is no monster, but the three Ojama Brothers sure are!"

' **It's the potato,'** thought Rose as she looked at the yellow Ojama brother. **'And two rotten potatoes.'**

"You are kidding!" laughed Slade. "Don't tell me, you pinned the hopes of saving your little academy on these three twerps!"

"That's right! And you're about to see why!" said Chazz as he then proceeded to insult the monsters.

"I'm kind of worried on what they could have taught them," said Rose out load.

"Agreed," said the others besides Syrus and Jaden who were in shock.

"That good bros support each other!" yelled Chazz, ignoring what the three brothers were saying.

"So, I'm not a good bro?" said Slade, uncaring.

"Exactly! Which is why I don't feel bad about doing this. I play a spell card! Now do your thing!"

"What in the?" asked Jaden in shock as the three brothers put their asses together and began to spin.

"I'm disturbed but intrigued," said Rose.

"Agreed," said Bastion, Alexis, and Zane.

"What happened! They're all gone!" said Slade in shock as his monsters were destroyed.

"Thanks to a little thing called brotherly love," said Chazz in a mocking voice. "Here's how it works, Slade, when the Ojama Brothers are on the field, Delta Hurricane can destroy all your monsters! Thunder Crash!"

"Wow! For every monster he decides to destroy, he deals 300 points in damage!" said Rose, impressed as Slade's life points went down to 3,100.

"That doesn't mean a thing, got that!" yelled Slade. "Your deck's still full of weaklings, and mine's still full of rare monsters just rearing to tear you apart!"

"I don't think so," said Chazz with a smirk. "Thanks to all the cards in my graveyard, Slade! 'Cause I play Chaos Necromancer!

"Sure, he starts out weak, but he gains 300 attack points for each monster that's in my graveyard!"

"Wait, so," started Jaden in shock.

"SO, with 11 monsters in my grave, his attack points are 3,300! How's that for weak!?"

"No way!" said Slade in shock. "No! Hold on!"

"Now, Chaos Necromancer, attack with Curtain Call Catapult! You go bye-bye!"

"Chazz did it!" yelled Syrus with a huge smile on his face.

"He saved the school!" said Jaden, equally as happy.

The school then began to cheer for Chazz.

"I would like to know how he got his own cheer," Rose said to her friends as everyone cheered.

"Who knows," said Zane with a smirk as he began to shake his head.

 _ **~Else Where~**_

"Of course, he won," said Seto with a smirk. Lilly, who was sitting on her brother's desk, laughed. "Did you really think I would give Duel Academy to those two?"

"They have a lot to learn about world domination!" said Lilly as she continued to laugh. Shen then hopped off the desk and walked to her brother. "Well, now that, that is over, I have a date with Yugi! Later Seto!"

"Later Lilly," he said with a fond smile as she left.


	18. Duel Distractions Past 1

Episode(s): 36

 **'Where did everyone go?'** thought Rose as she noticed many of the students were missing from class.

"There is definitely a lot of students missing. Must be a bug going around," said Banner as he looked worried while petting Pharaoh.

"Excuse me," said Miss Fontana as she walked in, "but do you recognize this bag?"

"Yes, it's one of my students," said Banner, catching the other students' attention.

"Looks like its field trip time," said Rose as she and the others got up.

"Seems so," said Bastion as he collected his things to leave.

 _ **~In the Forest~**_

"I wonder why that pack was left all the way out here," wondered Jaden outload as the group walked.

"Indeed. And, Jaden, where is its owner?" question Bastion with a frown.

"I hope that no one is hurt," said Banner in worry.

The group then started to call out load to see if anyone would respond. They continued to yell out while walking until they got to a clearing which caused them to stop. They all gasped at what was in front of them: a coliseum.

"Where did this come from?" question Jaden in shock.

"I'm going in!" declared Bastion as he ran forward, causing the others to follow him.

"Wait up!" cried a destressed Syrus.

"OH, running," whined Chumley as they all ran.

Once the group got to the middle, they were shocked by what they were seeing: the missing students were building the coliseum!

"Hey! That guys from class!" said Syrus as he noticed one of the students.

"Yeah, so is she!" said Chumley as he noticed another.

"Oh my!" said Banner in shock.

"Crowler!" yelled Chazz in shock.

 **'Why am I not surprised?'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"What are you doing?" question Syrus as Crowler struggled to move a stone.

"A man's work," he said as he looked at them.

"A man's work?" questioned Banner with a raised eyebrow. "My, they must have been running very short on men."

"One, that is sexist, two, I don't think you're able to do any work," said Rose as she continued to watch Crowler struggle.

"Agreed," said the others.

"Shit!" yelled Jaden as a tiger appeared before him.

"Good kitty?" said Chazz in fear.

"RUN!" yelled Jaden as he grabbed Rose's hand and started to run, pulling said girl behind him and causing the others to follow.

"First a coliseum, then a tiger! What's next, a gladiator!?" yelled Banner as they ran.

"Actually, I think she prefers the term Amazon," said a love struck Crowler.

"Amazon!" said Banner in shock as the group had climbed a pillar to get to safety.

"That's right!" said a women. The group turned their heads to look at a muscular women who had the look of a biker chick. "And thanks to your friends, I've been able to finally finish my glorious arena!"

"Arena for what?" asked Jaden as the women jumped from the up above to the ground level, shocking the others.

"Dueling!" she said as the tiger went to her and she pet it. She then walked to the students.

"Job well done! I had no idea that Duel Academy students could make such fine laborers! Now, as promised, here's your payment: some rare cards!" said the women as she gave them each an envelope. "Well, deserved, I might add! Until next time!"

"Hey!" said Jaden as their group climbed down the pillar, "What is going on?"

"What does it look like?" said the women with a smile. "I'm setting the stage, key keeper, for your vanquishing. I'm one of the seven Shadow Riders!"

"Uh-oh," said Jaden with a frown.

"A Shadow Rider? Aw, man," said Syrus in fear.

"You mean: Aw, wo-man!" said Chumley in shock. "Amazons are a warrior race of all females!"

"Wow!" said Alexis in shock.

"You go girl!" said Rose with a smile.

"The name is Tanya," said the women, "and now that the battleground has been established, it's time we battle. Now then, which of you big, strong men will it be? After all, I would never harm a sister."

"Hey, don't do me any favors!" said Rose in anger. **'I want to be able to duel too!'**

"So, which of you males will it be?" asked Tanya as she started at the group with a smile. "Who's my man!?"

"Right here!" said Jaden with determination.

"Yours truly!" said Chazz.

"I'll take you!" said Bastion as he stood between the two.

The rest of the group looked at Banner who had his back to everyone. Rose just glared at the boys.

"Hmm. If this is really the best you have to offer, then I suppose I'll pick. . ." started Tanya as she then pointed at Bastion, "you!"

"Huh?" said the other two boys in chock while Bastion smiled.

"Well, can't duel 'em all," said Jaden as he and Chazz walked back to the group.

"Hmph," grunted Rose in an annoyed matter.

"What is your name?" asked Tanya.

"Bastion. Bastion Misawa," said Bastion with determination.

"Hmm," hummed Tanya.

 **'Why don't I like the sound of that?'** thought Rose to herself.

"Alright pal! Go and get her!" yelled Jaden, encouragingly.

"And don't go easy 'cause she's a girl!" yelled Syrus.

"Not like any that I've seen," said Chumley.

"Alright! Let's do this!" said Bastion, ignoring the others as he opened up his jacket. "The only question is which deck to choose!"

"Really? I have the same problem myself," said Tanya as she showed him her decks. "I have two decks. One is of knowledge. The other is of courage. Why don't you go ahead and decide which of the two I use?"

"Fine then! I'll pick the deck of knowledge!"

"Nice choice. Hmm," hummed Tanya as she put her deck in and smiled at Bastion.

"Thank you," said Bastion with a smirk, "but it's not nearly as nice as the choice that I am making for myself. I select my earth deck!"

"Then let us begin, and don't worry, this isn't a shadow game."

"Beg your pardon?" said Bastion.

 **'He says it like it's not even possible. The boys do realize that there are still normal duels, right?'** question Rose in her head as she looked at the boys with a sweat drop.

She and the others were sitting in the stands to watch the duel. Banner sat four rows above the teens while the others sat in a row: Alexis, Rose, Jaden, Syrus, and Chazz.

"You heard me, Bastion!" said Tanya as she started to do a little dance. "I don't want your soul! I want you, big boy!"

"We are underage lady!" yelled Rose in shock as Bastion nearly fell over in shock.

"It's like this: my tribes all women, so to marry I have to shop around," continued Tanya with a blush on her face."

"To marry!" yelled Bastion in shock. **'I'm underage! How old is this lady!'**

"That's right, hon. Now let's do this," she said with a wink.

"Duel!" the two said together.

"Alright, it's my turn, and first, I'll summon the Amazoness Swordswoman in attack mode!" said Tanya. "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn!"

"I'm up!" yelled Bastion as she drew a card. "And I summon to the field Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus! In attack mode! And now, Magnet Warrior, attack that Amazoness! Lodestone Baton Bash!"

"Why'd Bastion lose life points?" asked Syrus as Bastion's life points went down to 3,700.

"Because of my Amazoness' ability," explained Tanya. "Her opponent takes all battle damage that was dealt to her."

"He walked right into that one," said Chumley.

"Yeah, that's not like Bastion," said Alexis in shock.

"Nuh-uh! It's just like Bastion," said Jaden. "Think about it! Sure, he has fewer life points, but she has fewer monsters! Smart move!"

"Yeah, until I play my facedown card! Pride of Tribe!" said Tanya. "This trap activates when Amazoness is destroyed! Now I can summon another one from my deck. So, tell me, who here is the smart one now, hmm?

"You miscalculated on the last move! After all, now we have the same amount of monsters, but not the same amount of life points!"

 **'Bastion looks so annoyed,'** thought Rose as she watched Bastion take a deep breath.

"I'll play a card facedown, and that will suffice," said Bastion in annoyance.

"Oh, my! 'That will suffice!'" said Tanya with a blush on her face. "Say it again! It sounded so cool!"

"You know," started Syrus as he turned to look at Jaden, "I'm thinking that it's been a couple of years since Tanya's interacted with a guy."

"Couple of years? Try decades, Sy!" said Jaden with a raised eyebrow. "This lady is man-crazy!"

"I think we might need to get Bastion pepper spray," said Rose to Alexis.

"Yeah," replied Alexis.

"I'm quite flattered," said Bastion with a smirk, "but I'm well aware if what you're trying to do. You're trying to distract me. But I can tell you right now, my dear, it's simply not going to work. I'm too focused."

 **'Why do I feel that's going to bite him in the ass?'** thought Rose. **'I also don't think he's helping by calling her dear.'**

"Oh, are you? We'll see!" said Tanya as she drew a card. "I play The Amazoness Blowpiper!"

"And I play my face down!" declared Bastion. "Magnet Force Minus! When this card is activated it can equip onto one monster! Then, who it's equipped to gains a negative magnetism and becomes what's known as a minus monster."

"Oh?"

"And from there, dear, it gets interesting. See, two minus monsters? Well, I'm afraid they're not allowed to engage in battle with each other, but a minus and a plus? If they're out, they must fight.

"So, since Amazoness Blowpiper is a minus monster and Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus is a plus monster: it's on! You've heard that old quote, 'opposites attract?' We'll, I'm afraid it's true!"

"I know it!" cried Tanya dramatically. "After all, just look at us!"

"Oh, stop it!" yelled Bastion.

"Stop it? Why don't I just stop you from winning this battle instead? Go, Amazoness Spellcaster! Now one Amazoness and one monster on the field exchange their attack points with each other!"

"This is bad," said Syrus as he stood up. "Now Bastion's monster is going to be outmatched!"

"Attack! Amazoness Blowpiper!" said Tanya as Bastion's life pints went down to 2,700. "And now, The Amazoness Swordswoman will attack you directly! Go, Amazon Slash Attack!"

 **'1,200! Come on Bastion,'** thought Rose as she started to fear for her friend. In her anxiety, she ended up grabbing Jaden's right hand in her left and holding it.

 **'She's holding my hand!'** thought Jaden as his face got red. He had a grin on his face.

"That was fun," said Tanya with a smirk.

"But how?" question Bastion as he started to get frustrated. "That's two times that she's been able to outthink me."

"I guess we know where our kids are going to get their smarts from, then."

"WHAT! OUR KIDS! WE ARE ENEMIES! RIVALS!" yelled Bastion as he freaked out.

"During this duel, we are. But what about afterwards?" said Tanya with a smirk. "We'll be betrothed to each other! Just think about it! You'll be Mr. Tanya the Amazon Woman!"

"HE'S UNDERAGE!" yelled Alexis and Rose as they stood up.

The others around them simply made faces, though not in a "I feel bad for you," but more in a "why isn't that me?" way. This caused the two girls to glare at them and the boys to freak out.

"You are relentless," said Bastion in an almost sad way. "Truly, are you that smitten with me?"

"I prefer 'in love,'" said Tanya like a school girl.

"You hardly know me!"

"I know enough. My little sugar booger," said Tanya with a blush.

"Hey, does anyone wonder where the tiger went?" asked Rose as she looked around.

"You're right, it's gone!" said Chazz as he too looked around.

"Hopefully it stays gone," said Banner as he held Pharaoh.

"My turn!" said Bastion as he drew a card. "I activate Magnet Conductor Plus! This allows me to bring a plus monster from the graveyard to my hand! So, come on back, Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus!

"However, he won't be out for long, because he and The Magnet Warrior Omega Minus from my hand are now going right back to the grave so that I can summon Conduction Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus! And now I'll activate Warrior Magnum Plus Minus' special ability! It adds half the attack points of one magnet monster on the field to the Warrior Magnum's attack points!"

"He's got her outmatched now!" yelled Jaden in shock.

"Now, Warrior Magnum! Attack Amazoness Blowpiper with Polarizing Pulvering Blast!" said Bastion as he brought down Tanya's life points to 1,700. "Next I'll place two facedown, and I think that'll do."

"What a move!" gushed Tanya. "No wonder I love you! And, sweetie, because I do, I must beat you. And with Amazoness Swordswoman's special ability, where even if she loses in battle, you take damage, I will!

"Now Amazoness Swordswoman, strike down Conduction Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus with Amazon Slash Attack!"

"Sorry! But I play a facedown! Power off! Now Warrior Magnum Plus Minus splits back into the two monsters that originated him," said Bastion as he played his card.

"No fair!" called out Tanya.

"Yeah! Tight move!" said Jaden in happiness.

"Yes, I agree," said Bastion.

"Guess I'll just have to get you next turn and with Amazoness Paladin now out on the field, you can be sure I will, because my paladin? She gains an extra 100 attack points for every card on my field that has the name 'Amazoness' in it!

"Next, I'll place two cards facedown and that will do for now."

"Don't all her cards have Amazoness in them?" asked Alexis.

"Probably," said Rose with a grunt.

"Alright, it's my move now!" said Bastion with determination, only to be cut off by Tanya.

"Speaking of moves, sweetie, I think that it's probably best that you move in with me. You know, after we get married. Oh! We'll have the coziest home sweet home!

"Oh, I'm sorry honey. Am I distracting you again with this talk about how much I love you? And how positively handsome you are? Ha ha/ Oh! There I go again!"

"She's totally doing it on purpose!" whispered/shouted Rose as Bastion put his hand over his heart. Jaden looked at her.

"Are you jealous?" he asked her with a dark look in his eye, if one looked closer, they could have said they turned yellow, but it was just the light. **'Damn it Bastion!'**

"No! I just don't like the fact that she is using that against him! That's no way to win a duel!" said Rose in anger.

"I guess that I simply can't help myself. I'm head over heels!" said Tanya with excitement.

"Yes, me too," said Bastion with a blush causing the others to freak out.

"I can't look," said Rose as she turned her head into Jaden's shoulder.

"He's gonna lose, isn't he," asked Chazz with his arms crossed.

"He's got this!" yelled Syrus.

"He's got the love bug," said the others as Bastion lost.

"Fuck!" yelled Jaden as he grabbed Rose's hand and rand for it. The others followed him when they saw the tiger start running for them.

"Oh no. Bastion," said Jaden in worry.

"Sorry! Bastion and I are officially on our honeymoon now, so get lost!" said Tanya.

"This isn't over!" yelled Jaden as he grabbed the bars that locked him out of the coliseum.


	19. Duel Distractions Part 2

Episode(s): 37

"I hate hearing Bastion suffer like that and not being able to help!" said Alexis as she moved the fire around.

"no joke," said Chazz, honestly feeling bad for Bastion. The group was all sitting around the fire Alexis was hitting with a stick. "They've been dueling all night! And from those screams, it sounds like Bastion's been losing all night, too!"

"How long can this go on?" asked Bastion

"We've gotta do somethin'!" declared Jaden as he stood up.

"Yeah!" said Syrus and Chumley as they stood up too, only to be stopped by the sound of the iron bars going up.

"Huh?" said everyone in shock as they turned around to see what was happening. They all stood up to see what was gonna happen.

"It's Bastion!" said Rose as she ran to him to see if he was okay. He walked out in a daze with a blush on his cheeks.

"Bastion!?" said Jaden as he and everyone else followed Rose. Once they got to him, he collapsed onto his knees with Jaden holding him up.

"What happened?" question Rose as she looked at him in worry.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"Wait, so she dumped you?" asked Jaden in shock **. 'Shouldn't that be a good thing?'**

"That's right," said Bastion with a depressed sounding voice. "I'm crushed."

"You're not crushed," said Chazz, "you're lucky!"

"I don't understand," said Banner from behind the group, "she was so smitten with you."

"I know," said Bastion with s goofy smile on his face, "we were to be married!"

"Huh?' said everyone in shock.

"I thought Bastion would be the one guy who wouldn't think with his head down below," said Rose with a sweat drop, shocking the boys and making them blush.

"Same," said Alexis as she sighed.

"But she decided I wasn't duelist enough," said Bastion, sounding as if he was gonna cry. "I wasn't good enough foe her, and she's left me forever! She says she wants a champion! A duelist who can give her a match that she'll always remember."

"Bastion," said Jaden in shock.

"Love sick full," said Rose and Alexis together as the group helped him and walked back to the school.

 _ **~Back At The School~**_

"Is he still wigging out over that girl?" asked Jaden as he and Rose watched Bastion.

"Yeah, I had no idea Bastion had fallen for her that hard," said Rose in shock.

"Really."

 _ **~That Afternoon~**_

"What do the lot of you want?" asked Bastion as he walked into the school's dueling arena where the group was waiting for him.

"A duel," said Jaden, showing his deck, "to cheer you up!

"I can't. It's just too soon for me."

"Oh, come on! You gotta move on Bastion!"

"I can't duel without my Tanya," said Bastion with a love-struck look.

"I hate saying this, but she's probably duelin' without you," said Jaden with a plain look.

"No! She would never! Not my Tanya!"

"Oh, gag me!" said Chazz in an annoyed voice.

"Don't make me punch you," said Rose, also annoyed with the conversation.

"You don't understand, we had passion!" said Bastion.

"Ah, excuse me, what?" questioned Jaden in confusion.

"What I first dueled Tanya, there were fireworks between us. You saw how our cards danced that dangerous duel monsters dance together. It was beautiful. Majestic. If I can't have that feeling again when I duel.

"Well, it's over then. My life dueling, it's all finished!"

"But Bastion, she's a Shadow Rider, we have the world to save, we need you," said Zane in a calm voice from behind Rose. "And you're saying you're done?"

"As much as all of you require my deck, until I prove to Tanya that I am a worthy man, my dueling days are through!" declared Bastion.

"Bastion, I will punch you," said Rose in a calm voice. Zane grabbed her from the back and held her back. The other boys got freaked out.

"Alright, I'm gonna go to the bathroom and hurl," said Chazz after he had calmed down.

"Just duel her again!" said Jaden with a smile as he moved himself in front of Rose. That way if Zane lost his grip, he could stop her. "Go and ask her from a rematch!"

"Rematch?" asked Bastion in shock as everyone turned to look at Jaden in shock.

"And don't take no for an answer! You're a touch guy! And I'll even be your wingman!" said Jaden with a big grin. Rose ended up smacking him on the back of the head.

"No means no, you idiot," said Rose with a frown.

"Sorry," said Jaden in fear.

 _ **~That Night~**_

"Couldn't this 've waited 'til morning?" complained Jaden he ran with Bastion to the coliseum.

"No! Tanya!" yelled Bastion.

"Wait up!" cried out Syrus as the group ran to catch up with the two boys.

"We thought you could use the extra help!" said Rose as Jaden turned to ask them why they were there.

"Thanks, you guys!" said Jaden with a smile. Though that smile dropped when they heard a tiger growled.

"It's her," said Bastion as he turned around, causing the others to gasp.

"Shit," said Chazz as Tanya jumped out of the bushes on the back of her tiger.

"Tanya," said Bastion in awe.

"Can't you take a hint?" asked Tanya with a smile. "I already dumped you, don't you remember?"

"He want's a rematch!" declared Jaden.

"He can't have one," said Tanya as she looked Jaden up and down, "but you seem quite brave."

"I do?" asked Jaden, freaking out. "But I'm here for my friend!"

"He already lost," she laughed. "I duel you or there's no duel."

"I never back down from a challenge," declared Jaden as he started to smirk. "I'll do it for Bastion!"

"What!" said Chazz in shock as he glared at Jaden.

"Oh, no," sighed Alexis as she looked at her pissed friend. The group then walked into the coliseum with Jaden and Tanya going to the field.

"You know the rules," said Tanya as she showed Jaden her two decks. "If you lose this duel, you lose your spirit key and single status. Meaning you move here, to the battle arena with me and become my husband forever more!"

"Bitch," Rose growled under her breath. Zane put his hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

' **Someone is jealous,'** he thought with a smirk.

"I sure hope that Jaden knows what he's doing," said Chazz with a grunt.

"I sure do," replied Jaden from the arena, "and when I'm done, Bastion'll know you don't have to be in love to duel with passion."

"What do you say we start this, hun?" said Tanya with a smirk.

"Let's duel!" said the two duelist.

"Alright, Tanya, get your game on! Here goes!" declared Jaden as he drew a card. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode!"

"That's your move?" asked Tanya with a grunt as she drew a card. "Well, I have someone to clip your Avian's wings! I summon Amazoness Paladin! And while Paladin's on the field, she gains an extra 100 attack points for every single monster out with Amazoness in its name!

"And I activate this: a spell known as Amazoness Charm! Now, all the monsters on your field that are in defense mode are switched to attack mode and they each gain 200 attack points."

"I don't get it," said Crowler from the stands. "Why would she plat a card that increases Jaden's attack power?"

"For the thrill of it! The passion!" said Bastion.

"Bastion, do me a favor, shut the fuck up!" said Rose with a glare, causing said boy to back away from her.

"So, are we enjoying the match so far?" asked Tanya with a smile. "Not getting distracted, I hope."

"Nothin' distracts me from dueling! Didn't ya know?" said Jaden with a smile. **'Unless it's Rose I get to duel. But right now, I have a lady to impress.'**

"Well maybe this will make you reconsider!" said Tanya as she showed him a card. "The card Amazoness Arena! When this card activates, we both gain 600 life points. And it's not just distracting, but captivating."

"Wow, she must be really desperate to find a husband if she's gotta use a cage!" said Chazz as the two had their life points go up to 4,600 and a cage sowed up around the two duelist.

"See, Amazoness Arena is a sacred arena," laughed Tanya. In here, you don't just fight with your monsters, but with your soul!"

"And just how do I do that?" asked Jaden in fear.

"Oh, you'll find out! But first: Amazoness Paladin attacks your Avian!" said Tanya as her monster attack and brought Jaden's life points down to 4,000. "Now you'll see the power of my arena! After our monsters are all done, your soul can battle mine!

"If you sacrifice a hundred of your life points, you take away a hundred of mine!"

"Watch out, Jaden!" said Rose in fear.

"I guess I should warn you, I don't ever hit girls," said Jaden with confidence and a smirk.

"And you shouldn't, but this isn't a fight between us," said Tanya with a smirk. "You see, it's like I said, our souls will clash!"

"If you say so!" said Jaden as he gave 100 of his life points, only to lose 100 more and bring his life points to 3,800 because he lost.

"JADEN!" yelled Syrus.

"Come on! This is embarrassing for all of us guys!" cried out Chumley. Jaden's soul then managed to hit Tanya, bringing her life points down to 4,400.

"Are you saying girls can't fight?" asked Rose with a raised fist.

"NO MA"AM!" cried out Chumley in fear.

"That's no a bad left hook," complimented Tanya.

"What the, she compliments his attack?" asked Chazz in shock.

"Isn't she great!" said Bastion with a blush, causing Chazz to glare at him.

"Like that?" said Jaden as he drew a card. "Then you're gonna love this! I use Polymerization to fusion summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

"Nice move," complemented Chazz.

"Really nice move!" said Rose in happiness. "That Thunder Giant's special ability can take out a monster with less attack points on the turn it was summoned!"

"I guess this is good-bye Paladin," said Jaden with a smirk.

"Impressive," said Tanya with a smile.

"I'm not done! Now my Thunder Giant attacks you directly!"

The attack hit Tanya and sent her flying onto her back.

"Tanya! Are you okay?" asked Jaden, concerned as Tanya's life points went down to 2,000. **'I wasn't trying to kill her.'**

"Not bad, Jaden," laughed Tanya as she looked at him. "You're my type of guy!"

"Uh, Bastion," said Banner in concern. "I think Tanya's falling for Jaden!"

"She better not be," said Rose in annoyance.

"'Course not. She would never leave me!" said Bastion with a smile and blush.

"Alright! It's my turn!" cried out Tanya as she jumped up and drew a card. "First, I'll put down a facedown then summon Amazoness Swordswoman in attack mode! And finally, I'll use Amazoness call to rip apart your fused monster.

"Now let's fight! Attack Clayman with Amazon Slash Attack!"

"Jaden!" said his friends in shock as his life points went down to 3,100.

"And now, thanks to my Amazoness Arena, it's time we had a rematch!" said Tanya as her life points went down to 1,900.

"Oh, not again," said Rose.

"Look out, Jaden!" cried out Syrus.

"Snap your jab!" yelled out Chumley as Jaden gave up 100of his life points, bringing him down to 3,000.

The two souls fought each other, bringing both duelists life points down by an extra 100.

"Ya know, I used to think hittin' like a girl was actually a bad thing! But with the way Rose hits me when she gets angry, I would say you're almost at her level!" said Jaden with a huge grin. Rose blushed at this.

"It is a bad thing alright, for you!" said Tanya.

"Alright! It's my move!" yelled out Jaden as he drew a card. I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode! And now, Sparkman, attack Amazoness Swordswoman!"

"Not so fast! I've got my trap: Amazoness Archers!"

"Huh?" said Jaden in shock.

"It's a rare card, and I can only use it when you make the mistake of attacking a field that only has Amazoness monsters on it!" said Tanya with a smirk. "Once you do, all your monsters lose 600 attack points! Not too shabby for a girl, huh?"

"No! Not too shabby at all, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up!" declared Jaden. "Go, Sparkman!"

"Shit," said Jaden as his life points went down to 2,400. "And, now let's have ourselves round three! Ha!"

"Hold on!" said Rose in shock as Jaden's life points went down to 2,300 and Tanya's down to 1,700. "Now Jaden's gonna use the soul attack?"

"Not bad," said Tanya as her life points went down to 1,600 and Jaden's went down to 2,200. "You really duel with passion!"

"What's he trying to prove?" asked Banner in fear.

"I don't know, but I've never seen Jaden duel with so much zeal before in my life!" said Rose in shock as Alexis nodded in agreement.

"Yes, he's enjoying himself, and without being in love," said Bastion with a smile.

"Alright, next, I'll leave my Amazoness Archers force all your monster to attack!" declared Tanya.

"You want it? Then you're gonna get it! Burstinatrix, get 'em!" said Jaden as his monster attacked, bringing her life points down to 1,300. "Well, that cost me some points, but hey! It's worth it to rumble!"

"Not again!" cried out Syrus as Jaden's life points went down to 1,100 while Tanya's went down to 1,400.

"Next, I'll throw down a couple of facedowns and activate a little card I like to call The Warrior Returning Alive! Now Clayman comes back from the graveyard right to my hand!"

"My turn!" said Tanya as she drew a card. "And, I'll summon a little card I like to call: Amazoness Tiger!

"Actually, she's not really little because this kitty gains 400 attack points for every single Amazoness monster I have! She just loves company."

"I don't blame her! Look how powerful she got!" said Crowler in shock.

"How about we try to not sound quite so impressed, okay?" said Rose in anger.

"Now, Amazoness Swordswomen, attack Jaden directly!" said Tanya as her monster attack.

"Hold on!" declared Jaden as he revealed a card. "I play a Hero Emerges! Here's how it works! You draw a random card from my hand and if it's a monster I get to summon it to the field! How's that for some comp'ny for your cat!?"

"But you only have one card left!" said Tanya in shock.

"Perfect!" said Zane with a smirk. "She has no choice but to pick the Elemental Hero Clayman!"

"I'm sorry," said Tanya with a smirk. "But Swordswoman's special ability transfers all battle damage to you! So, you'll probably wanna duck now."

"What?" said Jaden in shock as his life points went down to 600. "Guess it's time to put my dukes!"

"But Jaden!" said Rose in protest.

"He hardly has any life points left," said Zane with an emotionless face.

"Let's go!" said Jaden as he gave up 100 life points.

"Bring it!" said Tanya as she also gave up 110 life points.

"What's he doing?" asked Chumley as both duelist have their life points go down by another 100 points.

"If this keeps up, Jaden is gonna lose!" said Syrus in fear.

"Perhaps he's fallen under Tanya's spell," said Zane as he watched. "The same spell that caused Bastion to lose."

"He better not!" declared Rose with a glare as she looked at Zane who just smirked at her.

"It's no spell, Zane," said Bastion with a blush. "It's love as pure as the wind driven snow, right Tanya?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever lover boy," said Tanya.

"You want me to hit him?" asked Rose in all seriousness.

"Nah, it's okay," said Tanya as she continued. "Now lets get back to business! Amazoness Tiger, attack Clayman!"

"What the?" asked Chazz in shock as Tanya's life points went down to 1,100. "Why would Tanya attack a monster with more defense points?"

"Simple," said Rose with a glare, "to use that arena ability to fight Jaden again!"

"He's still in there," said Chazz as Jaden's life points went down to 200 and Tanya's went down to 900.

"for now," said Zane, causing Chazz to look at him.

"Next, I'll activate the spell Amazoness Trainer to seal your fate!" said Tanya with a smirk.

"Aw, Jaden is in some deep shit now!" said Chumley in fear.

"Since she played that Amazoness Trainer if that tiger is unable to defeat its target during this round, then the trainer card instills a tactical advantage of 400 extra attack points for another attack," said Zane in a calm matter.

"Alright," said Chazz, "now how about somebody explain it to me in English?"

"I'm afraid," said Banner, 'if that tiger attacks Jaden again then this duel is finished."

"Yes, Jaden will lose," said Crowler with a smile, "and we'll lose him as a student because he'll have to marry Tanya!"

"Don't say that!" said Rose in anger.

"Jaden, no," said Syrus in fear of losing his friend.

"What's the hold up?" said Jaden in anger.

"Oh, you know hun, just enjoying the moment," said Tanya with a smile, "after all, it'll be our anniversary! Attack!"

"Not yet!" said Jaden as he played a card. "I play a trap: Clay Charge! Here's how it works! If you attack Clayman when I use this here trap card, not only do both monsters bite the big one, but you take 800 points of damage!"

"So, you're playing hard to get I see," said Tanya with a smile as her life points went down to 100. "I like that!"

"Hey! I'm just liking this all-out duel!"

"You know, I have to admit, I'm liking it too," said Syrus in seriousness, "it's non-stop action."

"And I think that's exactly what Jaden's going for, too," said Zane in his calm voice. "Beat her at her own game."

"I guess," said Chazz. "Unless he's trying to impress her. Who knows, maybe this Tanya girl is Jaden's type?"

"Why don't you shut it, Chazz," said Rose in anger. "No way Jaden would ever date someone like that bitch, and unless you forgot, this is about more than just marriage!"

"Jaden needs a miracle draw here or Tanya's going to get another Spirit Gate Key," said Alexis. "Not to mention, Bastions going to spend the rest of his life in some lame love limbo."

"There's a lot riding on Jaden's shoulders this move," finished Rose with worry. **'You got this Jaden!'**

"You fought well, Jaden, but my Swordswoman will beat you," said Tanya. "Remember, her special effect makes it, so you take all damage you deal to her! You can't win!"

"With one card I can, and I just drew it!" said Jaden with a smile. "Go Elemental Hero Wildheart in attack mode!"

"They have the same attack point," said Chazz with his arms crossed.

"So, then they'll destroy each other!" said Chumley with a smile.

"You go get her, Jaden," said Alexis with a smile.

"Wildheart, attack Amazoness Swordswoman!" said Jaden as the two monsters destroyed each other. "Now let's go!"

"This is it! She's down to just one hundred attack points!" said Rose as the two got ready to soul fight.

"And I'm back down to earth," said Bastion. "Jaden's proven you can duel passionately without being in love. Now go get her Jaden and win this match for us both!"

"It is over," said Banner as the souls fought.

"Never have I seen two people duel with such passion and heart," said Crowler.

"Well, tell us Bastion, how do you feel?" asked Zane. "Like a man still in the throw of love? Or has this duel finally helped you rebound?"

"Still in love," said Bastion without missing a beat, "but in love now with dueling. I see where the passion lies once again."

"I guess that's game," said Jaden with a smile. "Lemme know if ya ever wanna rematch!"

"No rematch," said Tanya with a smile. "I joined the Shadow Riders to find a duelist who would be worthy to be my husband, but I've discovered I am not worthy to be with someone strong as you."

"Tanya?" said Jaden as her life points went down to zero. She then transformed into a white tiger, shocking everyone.

"A tiger?" said Syrus in shock.

"Tanya, is that you?" asked Bastion in shock. She looked at him and growled, then walked away with her tiger following her. "Well then, I guess that this is it."

"Boy Bastion, you sure know how to pick 'em," said Chazz with a smirk as he put a hand on Bastion's shoulder.

"Don't worry, buddy, there's plenty of fish in the sea!" said Jaden with a smile.

"Yes, but not too many tigers," said Bastion with a smile. "Thank goodness!"


	20. The Dark Scorpions

Episode(s): 39

"What's up, Alexis?" said Jaden as he, Chazz, Banner, and a mystery man walked up to Alexis and Rose who were standing near Alexis' brother who was dressed in academy uniform.

"How's Atticus doing?" asked Rose as she smiled at her friend.

"So-so," said Alexis with a sad voice. "I mean, he's out of that hospital bed now, but he still can't remember much of what happened."

"I'm sure he'll come around soon," said Jaden with a smile to his friend.

"Anyway, what bring you all over?"

"The law, actually," said Banner with a smile as he held Pharaoh. The others turned to the mystery man.

"Good afternoon, ma'am. I'm detective Zaloog," said the man who was dressed in the way you would think an old-time detective like Sherlock Holms would dress with a weird eyepatch on his right eye.

"Okay," said the two girls.

"You see, Alexis, since three of the seven Spirit Keys have already been taken by the Shadow Riders and the fate of the world resets on protecting the remaining four, the academy though it best to call in the police."

"By the way, where is your key, Rose?" asked Jaden as he and Chazz turned to look at her.

"Right here, around my neck," she replied as she showed them.

"Same here," said Chazz.

"Yeah, same with me," said Jaden as she showed them.

"Oh my, that's exactly what I was afraid of," said Zaloog with a smile and a condescending voice.. "You may think that's where it's safest, but it's not, for you see, all the Shadow duelists have to do is find you, and they found the key."

"So, the detective suggests we all hid our keys somewhere," said Banner with a smile.

"Whatever's clever, I guess," said Jaden as they then proceeded to go to the student's rooms to hide their keys.

 _ **~Chazz's Room~**_

"Nobody'll think to look here," said Chazz as he put the key in a drawer.

"Yes," said Zaloog with s smirk. "Just be sure, Chazz, that you keep it a secret."

Everyone stopped when they heard a noise outside the room, only to see Gorg, the janitor.

 _ **~Jaden's Room~**_

"There!" declared Jaden as he put the key in a drawer in his desk. "The junk drawer."

"Good. No one will ever find it mixed in with all that clutter," said Zaloog with a nod.

Rose, Jaden, and Chazz just looked at the man suspiciously as Chazz closed Jaden's drawer. They then noticed someone trying to open the door.

"Who's there!" yelled Jaden as he opened the door, only to see a fellow Slifer Red student. "Oh, it's you."

"Well? Who is it?" asked Zaloog right as Syrus and Chumley showed up.

"Hey C.K., you lost again?" asked Syrus in a friendly voice.

"Your room is next door, remember?" asked Jaden.

"Oh, oh yeah!" said C.K. as he ran to his room.

"C.K. is a new transfer student," explained Chumley to the group. He's kinda on the slow side. I love dulin' him."

 _ **~Rose's Room~**_

"Well, this is where I keep all my other valuables," said Rose as she opened a box with jewelry in it and put the key in it. She then turned around as Chazz closed it for her. "There."

"Nice work," said Zaloog with a smirk from where he was sitting on her couch.

"Oh, sorry," said Meanae as she walked into the room. "I, uh, didn't mean to disturb you all."

"What? Who is this?"

"It's cool," said Rose with a smile. "She's the school nurse, no one to worry about."

 _ **~Teacher's Lounge~**_

"I bet your Spirit Key will be safe there, Professor Banner," said Chumley.

"What makes ya think that, Chumley, the fact that it's called a safe?" asked Chazz in a condescending voice. Right then, someone walked by.

"Wait! Who's that over there?" yelled out Zaloog.

"Oh, that's just Cliff the security guard," said Banner with a smile. "If anything, he'll make it even more safe.

"Well," he continued after he yawned, "I suppose we can go to sleep soundly now."

"Yes, quite soundly," said Zaloog as he looked at the students. "Now, children, get to bed. You all must be exhausted."

 _ **~That Night~**_

"Rose!" yelled a voice outside Rose's bedroom.

"What?" said Rose as she just woke up.

"Rose!" yelled another voice as they banged on her door.

"Shit," said Rose as she ran to the door, still in her pajamas. She had on cotton short shorts and a tang top.

"Rose," yelled both boys as she opened the door and they fell through.

"Wh-?' she started, only to be cut off.

"The Shadow Riders stole the keys!" yelled Chazz and Jaden. They then stopped and looked at her and blushed.

"I'll get dressed," she said as she rushed around the room grabbing things, "just give me a few minutes."

"Ri-right?" stuttered Chazz with a blush as he got up and walked out.

"We-we'll be outside," stuttered Jaden as he followed Chazz and closed the door behind him.

~A Few Minutes Later: In Chazz's Room~

"So, all your keys are gone, too?" questioned Chazz as they all sat on his bed.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," said Banner.

"See, Jaden!" yelled Chazz as he looked at the boy sitting behind him. "And they weren't wearing earplugs."

"We'll figure this out," said Zaloog as he appeared in front of Chazz's door, followed by Gorg, Meanae, Cliff, and C.K. with him.

"Detective Zaloog, what's going on?" asked Banner, in shock.

"I rounded up some suspects to help get to the bottom of this most serious crime."

"So, you'll question them?"

"In due time, after I pose a few questions to you first."

"Whatever," said Jaden with a smile as he stood up. "After all, he's the detective, right?"

"Wrong," said Chazz with his arms crossed, causing the others to look at him. "Something's up."

"What's up?" asked Jaden as he sat next to Chazz.

"Chazz, let's let him do his job," said Banner with a smile.

"Sorry, but this here is a job for Chazz Princeton," declared Chazz, shocking the others. Zaloog and the others came into the room as Chazz got ready.

"Now," continued Chazz as everyone settled in, "everyone who knew where those keys were is in this room. So, that means the thief has to be, too."

"Yeah, I guess," said Syrus, "but how will we find him? I mean, won't we need evidence?"

"You know, I did see a press-on nail on my bedroom floor," said Rose with a thoughtful voice. "It was such an ugly design, obviously who ever wore it has no taste."

"A press-on nail?" asked Chazz. "That sounds like a very promising clue, Rose. So where is the press-on nail now?"

"Well, since I knew it wasn't mine and that Alexis is the only other girl that goes to my room, I brought it with me because I thought it would be a clue," said Rose with a smile as she went through her pocket to find the nail. The only problem was that she couldn't find it.

"I'm sorry, it must have fallen out of my pocket on the way over here."

"Well, there goes that lead," said Chazz as he looked at Rose, only to blush as he saw she was blushing out of embarrassment. "But accidents happen, so it's okay!"

"I got one!" said Banner in happiness. "There was a set of footprints leading right up to my safe."

"That's perfect, professor Banner," said Chazz as he turned to Banner. "What size show was it? What was the style of the shoe tread?"

"I kind of vacuumed it up," said Banner with a sweat drop.

"Ya know, there was a hole in the wall of our room," said Jaden as he looked at Syrus.

"That's true," said Syrus as he nodded his head.

"And let me guess, Slacker, You already sealed it back up," said Chazz in an annoyed voice.

"Well, uh, kind of," said Jaden while making a weird face.

"You guys are really something," said Chazz, annoyed. He then looked at Rose who was pouting cutely, making him and Jaden blush as they looked at her. "Except for Rose who tried to bring the evidence. Sometimes accidents happen!"

"You're really good at this," said Rose with a smile as she looked at Chazz, causing said boy to blush. Jaden glared at him.

"Thanks," said Chazz with a smile.

"Well, without any evidence, I guess we won't know who did it," said Banner, causing Chazz to react.

"He did it," he said while pointing at C.K. "and him (points at Gorg), and him (points at Cliff), and her (points at Meanae)."

"Uh, and you're basing this on what?" asked C.K. in a nervous voice.

"Yeah! You heard everyone," said Meanae in anger, "there's no proof. You've got nothing on us."

"Oh, don't I?" said Chazz with a smirk.

"What?" said Zaloog in anger. "Look, how about I ask the questions?"

Chazz grunted and started to rummage through the inside pocket of his jacket.

"How about we here from them?" said Chazz as he showed his three Ojama cards. "You see, when we hid each of the spirit keys, I hid one of these cards with them.

"The three of them are kind of my eyes and ears when I'm not around, and in my dorm room, I had all of these watching you. The point is, they all saw who did it."

' _Caught you red handed,'_ said Ojama Black.

' _Soitenly did,'_ said Ojama Green.

' _You're so busted,'_ said Ojama Yellow.

"Who told you what?" Zaloog asked.

"Really? I'm lost," said Meanae.

"Where are these so-called witnesses?" asked the four accused.

"Well, maybe you can't see them, but I can," said an angered Chazz, "and I know they're behind this, detective."

"I believe Chazz," said Rose as she showed her card Rose Guardian as the spirit showed up next to her, surprising Jaden and Chazz who can see her.

"Same," said Jaden as he showed his Winged Kuriboh card, said creature flying next to his head.

"You're mistaken," laughed Zaloog with a smug smirk. "It's not just them, it's me too."

"WHAT!?" said everyone in shock.

"That's right, my children. All of us are in on it. We are the criminal ring known as," said Zaloog as they all revealed their black outfits underneath their cloths.

"The Dark Scorpions," they all said together.

"Au, sorry. Never heard of you," said the others, together as they looked at the weird group.

"Of course, you haven't" said Zaloog. "We've been deep undercover at your school for years now, waiting for our chance to nab those keys."

"And now, the Scorpions finally have them," they all said together, again, while striking poses.

' **Fucking weirds,'** thought the students at the same time.

"So?" said Chazz with a smirk. "To use them, you'll still have to beat me in a duel. SO, bring it on!"

"Why you?" question Jaden as he pointed to himself. "I'll duel."

"I'll take them on," said Rose as she pointed to herself.

"Or Professor Banner could," said Syrus as he looked at said teacher.

"Oh," said Banner as he backed away, "I'll sit this one out."

"Of course, that's it," said Zaloog as he looked at his duel disk, "why the keys didn't work. Ha! We have to beat them in a duel!"

"Got that right!" said Chazz as he put his duel disk on. "So, let's go, Shadow Rider."

 _ **~Outside the Slifer Red Dorms~**_

"Duel!" said both men.

"I'll win this as easy as I stole your keys," said Zaloog as he drew a card. "First, I'll summon Golem Sentry in defense mode. Next, I place a card facedown. That'll do for now."

"My turn!" said Chazz as he drew his card. "I play the spell card Fiend's Sanctuary. With this card, I can summon a Metal Fiend Token to the field, and now, I'll sacrifice my Fiend Token to bring out Armed Dragon Level Five. Go, Armed Dragon. Use those arms to destroy that Golem! Spiked Spinner!

"Alright, and for my next move, I'm gonna place two facedowns. Then I'll use my Dragon's ability, and it's a big one."

"Got that right," said Jaden as the others watched in awe. "On the turn Armed Dragon Level Five wins a fight, well, then you can trade him in. . ."

"For a Level Seven," said Chazz, finishing Jaden's sentence.

"Level him up all you want," declared Zaloog. "It won't matter, and you're about to see why.

"First, I play Pot of Greed. And I got just what I wanted: the one and only Don Zaloog!"

"What?" question the students in shock. Banner just made a face.

"And when I say one and only, I truly mean it," said Zaloog as he walked onto the field, "because, my children, I am him!"

"Wait, so," said Syrus, confused.

"He's a card?" question Chumley.

"Whoa," said Jaden in awe.

"Not just me," said Zaloog as he played another card. "With this, Mustering of the Dark Scorpions, I can summon all of them. That right, all the Dark Scorpions in my hand! Now, Scorpion: roll call!"

"Rolls? Who's got the rolls? Where are da rolls?" asked Grog.

"He means say your name, Gorg," said Meanae as she held a whip. "I'm Meanae The Thorn."

"The name is Cliff The Trap Remover," said Cliff with a knife. "Guess how I remove 'em."

"I'm Chick The Yellow," said C.K. as he jumped up and down. "I'm six foot when I jump up."

"And together, we're The Dark Scorpions," they all said.

"Now I'll play a trap," declared Zaloog. "You see, on the first turn that all the Dark Scorpions are out, this trap allows each of us to attack you directly, and for everyone of those attacks, you'll lose 400 life points. Now, let him have it! Dark Scorpion Combination!"

"Take this: Thorn Whip," said Meanae.

"Double Blast attack!"

"Scorpion Slice," said Cliff.

"Mallet Mash," said Chick.

"Hammer Hammer," said Gorg.

"This isn't how you wanna start a duel," said Jaden as Chazz screamed in pain and his life points went down to 2,000.

"And there's more, too," laughed Zaloog. "For you see, Chazz, now our special abilities go into effect against you."

"Say what?" cried out Chazz.

"That's right," said Gorg. "So, first, the monster on your field must return to the top of your deck."

"And then, next," said Chick as he pointed, "a card on your field returns to your hand."

"There's more," said Cliff as Chazz growled in anger. "The top two cards on your deck, they go to the grave."

"And then one card in your hand is destroyed," said Zaloog as Chazz got rid of the two cards.

"And finally," said Meanae with a smile, "a card with 'Dark Scorpion' in its name can be added to our hand from the graveyard."

"And I'll pick this: Dark Scorpion Combination," said Zaloog as he showed the card, "the card that started it all, and now, it'll end it all."

"Stay tough, Chazz!" yelled out Jaden.

"Hello? Of course, I can," said Chazz angerly at Jaden. "Now be quiet and let the Chazz do his thing!"

"You got his Chazz!" said Rose with a smile, causing Chazz to blush and smirk. Jaden glared.

"I play Level Modulation. Now you get to draw two cards and I get to summon from the grave a high-level monster without paying a dime, and I choose Armed Dragon level Seven."

"Him again?" grunted Zaloog as he drew a card. "You give me no choice but to play two facedowns then."

"I hate when this guy plays facedowns," said Syrus in worry.

"I hear ya, Syrus," said Jaden with a smile. "This should be interesting."

"It's my turn," said Chazz as he drew a card. "First, Armed Dragon Level Seven's effect activates. Now, by sending a monster card in my hand to the grave, monsters with attack points equal or fewer than my discarded one are destroyed, and the card I'm discarding is Despair From The Dark: 2,800 attack points."

"Hold it," declared Zaloog. "I play a trap: Retreat of the Dark Scorpions. Now all Dark Scorpions on the field retreat to my hand."

"Fine," said Chazz as he glared. "I'll attack directly. Armed Dragon, go get him. Dragon Sonic Sphere!"

"Oh, no!" said Zaloog's group as his life points went down 1,200.

"How dare he strike the Boss like that," said Cliff in anger.

"Don't you worry. We'll get him back," said Meanae in anger.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn," said Chazz.

"One lucky move, that's all," said Zaloog with a smirk, "but it won't matter. It ends here. I summon myself, Don Zaloog, again."

"No," gasped Rose.

"Then I'll play Mustering Of The Dark Scorpions. Welcome back, Team."

"Yeah!" they screamed.

"Sorry. They're not back yet," said Chazz. "I play Ojama Trio."

"Hey, wait a sec," said Cliff as the three appeared on Zaloog's field. "Why are they on our field?"

"So that you all can't be. See, Ojama Trio creates Ojama Tokens, and they take up three of your monsters' slots, and when destroyed, you lose 300 life points."

' _Sorry pal,'_ said Black.

' _Thanks for havin' us,'_ said Green.

' _I just love hot chocolate,'_ said Yellow.

"So, we can't come out?" asked Chick. "No fair."

"I can," declared Meanae. "Go on, Boss. Do what you have to do."

"Meanae, I'll never forget you for this," said Zaloog dramatically. "I play Dark Scorpion Tragedy of Love!

"When Don Zaloog and Meanae The Thorn are on the field, I can send Meanae to the graveyard to destroy all of your monsters."

"Avenge me Boss! Avenge me!" cried out Meanae.

"I sure will," said Zaloog. "I attack you directly! Double Blast Attack!"

"Chazz!" cried out Rose as his life points went down to 600.

"And now, my special ability activates," said Zaloog in anger. "You have to discard one random card from your hand."

"Actually, it's be my pleasure," said Chazz with a smirk.

"Huh?"

"Cuz the only card in my hand is Ojamagic, and when this card is sent to the graveyard, well, then Ojama Yellow, Green, and Black all come to my hand."

"Bring 'em out," said Zaloog confidently. "They don't scare me."

"Yeah. Well, we'll see what I can do to change that," said Chazz with a smug look as he drew a card. "My turn. Go, Pot Of Greed, and next, I play Polymerization. Scared yet? You will be. Do your thing, Ojamas!"

' _You've got it,'_ said Yellow.

' _Time to show these numbskulls,'_ said Black.

' _It soitenly is,'_ said Green as they all jumped up and hit their heads, causing the others to watch them confused.

"Ojama King," said the new being.

"What is that!" cried out Zaloog, freaked out.

"It's a giant fucking egg," said Rose as she looked at it.

"Makes me hungry," said Chumley.

"Now I play my spell card: Ojamuscle," said Chazz as his monster got buff.

"Now it's an egg on steroids," said Jaden.

' _Ojama Tokens, come to daddy,'_ said the Ojama King as he ate them.

"Ojamuscle destroys all Ojama monsters out, and for everyone that's destroyed, king gains 1,000 attack points," said Chazz with a smirk. "Oh, and since those were Ojama Tokens that were destroyed, you now lose 900 life points."

"Yes!" said Chumley, excitedly as Zaloog's life points went down to 300.

"And now, King's attack points will rise to 3,000! Now go, Ojama King! Attack Don with Flying Belly Flop Drop!"

"Alright!" yelled out Syrus.

"You won!" said Chumley.

"Way to duel, Chazz," said Jaden.

"Bye-bye," said Chazz.

"No. This can't be. We can't lose," said Zaloog as he and his team turned back into cards, causing the others to gasp.

"Well guys, guess that's one less Shadow Rider we have to worry about," said Chazz.

"Well, I say good riddance," said Chumley.

"That's what you get for trying to steal," said Syrus.

"Yes, and now the Spirit Keys are back in safe hands," said Banner as he and the students decided to go to their rooms.


	21. A Lying Legend

**A/N: I hate this episode, moving through the duel as fast as I can. Lol.**

Episode(s): 40

"You all know Yugi Muto, Lilly Kaiba, and Seto Kaiba as dueling legends," said Banner as he showed the students hand drawn pictures of the three legends. "Far and away, the very best of their generation."

"And best looking too!" said one of the girls.

"The guys are total dreamboats!" said another.

"Lilly is sexy as hell," said one of the Obolisk Blue boys.

"But you do realize, class," said Banner as he put some papers away, "that there were other great duelists well before all of them."

"How is that, Prof?" asked Jaden while he rest his cheek in the palm of his hand. "I mean, duel monsters hasn't been around all that long."

"Guess you were asleep during that class, Jaden," said Syrus, causing Jaden to look at him. "They used to play back in ancient Egypt."

"Huh," said Jaden in wonder.

"That's right," said Banner as he showed another picture, "and one of the best way back in those days was a powerful Pharaoh named Abidos the Third. Abidos was undefeated."

"Undefeated?" question Jaden, perking up. "That's so sweet! He must've been somethin' else. Of course, it's a good thing he's not around today, cuz then that undefeated record would go adios."

"Sure, it would, Slacker," said Chazz with a smirk, "and then you'd probably take down Yugi, Lilly, and Kaiba too."

"Ya think?" said Jaden with a smile as he turned to look at Chazz behind him. "Well, thanks! I had no idea that you believed in me so much, Chazz."

"It's sarcasm," said Chazz angerly as he lifted his hands, as if to strangle Jaden. "Got that?"

"Sure, but if you want to change your name, Chazz, you can do a lot better than 'Sarcasm,'" said Jaden with a smirk on his face as he turned to face forward, putting his hands behind his head.

"You know what I mean!" yelled Chazz as he tried to strangle Jaden, who only laughed.

"Hey, come on, guys," said Syrus with a nervous smile. "You're gonna get us in trouble."

"Wanna see trouble?" said Chazz as he started to pull on Jaden's ears, causing said boy to cry out in pain. "Fine! How about this?

"Stop. He's gonna hear us," said Syrus in desperation.

 **'That's funny,'** thought Rose as she looked at the two boys fight from behind Syrus.

"He sure will," said Banner in anger. "You can continue in detention."

"Aw man," said Syrus in disappointment, "fifth time this week."

 _ **~That Night~**_

"Thanks for coming, you guys," said Alexis as Rose and Zane showed up at the dock in front of the light house. Zane stood to Alexis' left while Rose stood to his left.

"No problem," said Rose with a smile.

"I just needed someone to talk to. I thought having my brother back would make everything ok again, but it seems like there's even more questions than ever now, and then with these Shadow Riders, I just don't know what to do, Zane, Rose."

"Yeah, nor I," said Zane as he looked forward, causing the two girls to look at him in shock. "But know that right now, you're safe, Alexis."

"He's right," said Rose as she smiled at her, causing Alexis to smile in return.

"Yeah," she said.

The tranquility was interrupted when the three heard the ground around them start to crack. They gasped as mummies sprang out of the ground. Zane grabbed the two girls and put them behind him.

"Not good," said Zane.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Alexis screamed as the mummies got closer.

"Alexis!" screamed Syrus as he, Chazz, and Jaden showed up and saw the monster surrounding their friends.

"Zane!" screamed Chazz.

"Rose!" yelled out Jaden.

"Mummies?" questioned Syrus in shock and fear.

"Save yourselves!" yelled Zane as he noticed the other three.

"No way! You need," yelled Jaden as he and the other two ran to try and get to there friends, only to get cut off by mommies appearing in front of them, "help?"

"Huh?' said the students as some sort of ship came from the sky and glowed brightly. The light was so bright that the students had to cover their eyes.

"Duelists," said a voice as the light got even brighter, completely blinding everyone, "I have come for you."

 _ **~Sometime Later~**_

"What happened?" said Rose as she sat up, to see the other asleep. "Banner's here too?"

"What?" said Zane as he sat up from where he was laying next to Rose. The two decided to talk for a little bit as the others slowly woke up, leaving only Jaden still asleep.

"Welcome back, Jaden," said Zane as he noticed said boy was finally awake.

"Huh? What the," started Jaden, when he noticed Banner. "Professor?"

"Those mummies found me and brought me here," said Banner with a frown. "That Spirit Key that I have must've led them to me."

"Yes," agreed Zane. "That must be how they found all of us."

Everyone gasped when they heard a gong. They ran to the edge of a stage to see a man in Egyptian clothing sitting on a seat.

"Hello there," said the man as he looked at the group.

"Ahh," yelled out Banner as he fell backward.

"I dunno," said Chazz, uncaringly. "Looks like he's seen a ghost."

"What's this?" said the man as he sat up. The group of academy students saw Jaden climbing onto the stage.

"Jaden," they all yelled.

"Hey, what's the bid idea?" yelled out Jaden.

"And why does your voice sound like you've had way to much helium?" mumbled Rose to herself, making her friends who heard her, laugh.

"That's not how one should address an Egyptian Pharaoh," said the man as he started to walk toward Jaden.

"Egyptian Pharaoh?" asked Jaden in shock.

"He looks just like the picture Banner showed us in class today," said Chazz.

"Abidos," said Alexis in shock.

"You'd make a fine palace girl, my beautiful dove," said man said to Alexis.

"The name's Alexis, you masked wierdo!"

"And you would make a fine bride, my beautiful kitten" said Abidos to Rose, causing said girl to glare.

 **'He better back the fuck off,'** thought Jaden and Chazz to themselves.

"I'm Rose, not your kitten," said Rose in anger.

"He's a Shadow Rider," said Zane. "After those Sacred Beasts, like the rest."

"And it seems like the punk's got us outnumbered," said Chazz.

"That's right," said Abidos. "So just leave your keys and walk away. You don't want to duel me."

"I do!" yelled Jaden as he raised his hand. "Over here! Please pick me! Come on!"

"Jaden," said Syrus, disappointed.

"And lemme show ya' how we duel in the 21st century," said Jaden with a smile as he pointed his thumb to his face.

"You can't talk to me like that," declared Abidos.

"You can't talk to him like that," said one of his followers.

 **'Um, okay?"** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"Jaden, you realize, this will be a shadow game," said Zane in a calm voice.

"He's right," said Rose as she held her left elbow with her right hand, "your souls on the line."

"And this guy's undefeated," whined Syrus.

"Not for long!" declared Jaden as in anger, only to then smile. "I mean, once I'm done with him, I'll be the legend! So, get your game on!"

"My game is always on," said Abidos in a calm voice. "Now prepare yourself, key-keeper, for-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! We get it! Not our first Shadow Game exactly. Catch!" said Chazz as he threw a duel disk at Jaden.

"Hey, that duel disk looks just like mine," said Syrus as he looked at his backpack, only to notice it open.

"Alright! Time to throw down!" said Jaden with a smile as he put his deck in the disk.

"Duel!" declared the two.

"First, I think I'll summon Pharaonic Protector in defense mode," said Abidos.

"No defense points?" asked Syrus in shock.

"And I'll lay down a facedown. Your turn."

"Then here I go," said Jaden as he drew a card.

"Does anyone wonder how old beings are able to use duel disks and have decks like we do?" asked Rose to her friends as they watch the duel.

"I've been wondering that too," said Chazz as they all started to think about.

"YouTube?" suggested Syrus.

"Maybe," said Alexis.

"It must be hard to find the cards they need," said Zane as he watched Jaden make his move.

"True," said Rose as they watched Abidos complain about Jaden destroying his monster.

"It looks like Jaden's gonna win this one easy," said Chazz. "There goes my shot at a new room."

"Your move, Abidos," said Jaden, but Abidos didn't respond. "hello? Hellooooo?"

"Wait," said Abidos as he finally came to a realization, "could it be that all my servants let me win?"

"Let you win?" asked Jaden, surprised.

"Wow, what a giant loser this guy is," said Chazz with his arms crossed.

"You know what? I wouldn't mind having some servants like that," said Syrus.

"But his whole life has been a lie," said Alexis, feeling sorry for him.

"Top of the world in your home, but nothing out in the real world," said Rose with a frown.

"You never really dueled?" asked Jaden.

"I guess not," said Abidos in a dejected voice.

"Then lets start your first lesson right now!" declared Jaden with a smirk.

"What?"

"You heard me right. Now get your game on again, but if this is gonna be your first real duel, lets do this right and ditch that mask."

"Hmm," hummed Abidos as he took off his mask and smiled.

"That's it!"

"Wow," said the two girls, thinking he was attractive.

"Jaden, just promise me you'll give it your best," said Abidos.

"That's all I ever give!" declared Jaden. "Now let's duel!"

"I wonder why they faked dueled him," wonder Rose outload.

"It might have something to do with the fact that he was the Pharaoh. No one wanted to disappoint him," said Zane as they watch Jaden duel.

"Even so, to lie for so long?" asked Alexis in wonder. She then sighed as Abidos activated his third sarcophagus. "Leave it to Jaden to pep-talk a Shadow Rider."

"No Joke. Bad idea," said Chazz, angerly.

"And I sacrifice all three to finally summon Spirit of the Pharaoh in attack mode," said Abidos with a smile.

"Spirit of the who what?" asked Jaden in confusion.

"Oh!" said everyone in shock.

"Well, guess he looks cool, but I gotta admit, I expected a whole lot more than 2,500 attack points."

"I'm not done!" declared Abidos. "A Pharaoh is nothing without his servants. You see, whenever he's summoned, I get to call up his friends up to four level two Zombies from my graveyard. And now, my draw!"

"Not so fast!" declared Jaden. "Go, Invincible Hero."

"A trap card?"

"For this one turn, you can't destroy my Sparkman."

"Then I suppose it's a very good thing I have this card."

"Huh?" said Jaden in shock.

"I activate The Powers of Thousand Energy. Now, all Level-2 monsters on the field gain 1,000 attack points."

"No way!"

"Aw, man!" freaked out Syrus.

"'Aw, man' is right because that is 300 more attack points than Sparkman, meaning the extra damage goes right to-" said Banner, only to be cut off by Syrus.

"Jaden!" yelled Syrus.

 **'When did he wake up?'** thought the others in regard to Banner.

"Sparkman may survive the battle, but Jaden still takes damage! 300 points for each of those Zombies," said Rose as she watched worriedly.

"For each of them?" said Syrus in shock. "But that'll be like 1,200 life points!"

They watched as Jaden's life points went down to 1,900.

"There's more," said Abidos, "I still have Spirit Pharaoh himself. Attack!"

"Jay!" yelled Syrus as Jaden's life points went down to 1,000.

"Now I think I'll sacrifice one of my monsters to activate a little card I like to call Soul Guide. It gives me life points equal to the attack points on the card I lost, but it's about to get a whole lot better," said Abidos as his life points went up to 3,700. "Soul Guide also lets me put a copy of the card I just sacrificed right back in my hand, and even though Thousand Energy will most certainly destroy my monsters, from how your life points will turn out, it will be worth it! My record shall stand!"

In response, Jaden just laughed, causing Abidos to look at him confused.

"What's so funny?" asked Abidos. "You know you're about to lose your soul."

"Not yet," said Jaden with a grin.

"Is that so?"

"That's right! And you're about to see why," said Jaden as he drew a card. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in attack mode and then I'll play this here card. It's called Oversoul, and, boy, is it sweet.

"I get to summon an Elemental Hero back from the graveyard, and I think I know just the one: Elemental Hero Avian!"

"So what?" asked Abidos in an arrogant voice. "You've got three weak monsters. They can't beat my Pharaoh. He'll take them apart one at a time."

"Sorry, but he won't be getting' the chance. See, Abidos, your three-card combo was pretty sweet."

"Hmm?"

"But I got a four card one! Heated Heart, Emergency Call, then there's Righteous Justice, and last, but not least, Oversoul, and together, they're activatin' this: the one and only spell card known as Hero Flash."

"Never heard of it."

"Well, you're never gonna forget it! First, I get to summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix from my deck in attack mode, but that's not all, Abidos. Now all the heroes I have out get to attack your life points directly!

"Now, Elemental Heroes, let's put a blemish on that perfect record a' his: Hero Flash!"

"He won!" yelled Rose as Abidos life points went down to zero.

"That's game!" said Jaden with a pose. "And a pretty good one, too. You've got moves!"

"Yeah, but not like yours, Jaden!" said Rose with a smile.

"Big, fat, hairy deal," declared Chazz, causing Rose and Alexis to look at him weird. "Ojama Hurricane's just as good."

"Abidos doesn't look so hot," said Syrus as he looked at their enemy.

"Hey, what's the matter?" asked Jaden as he walked up to Abidos.

"I used to think I was the best duelist of all time, but now I know I need a lot of practice, if I want to be a true dueling legend," said Abidos from where he was kneeling on the floor.

"Hey, anytime!"

"Well, I was thinking right now," said Abidos as he stood up.

"Right now? You want a rematch?"

"No," said Abidos as he grabbed Jaden's hand. "Jaden, you could come back with me."

"Huh?"

"Jaden!" said Syrus in fear of losing his friend.

"You're too good for this place. Listen. Come back to my kingdom and I promise you power and fame," said Abidos as he moved closer to Jaden, causing the boy to freak out.

"Uh, nice offer," said Jaden, freaked out.

 **'I can't tell if he means that in a gay way or as a friendship way. So many questions,'** thought Rose.

"J-Jaden! You can't leave!" yelled Syrus.

"Sweet! So, I will get his room!" yelled Chazz.

"Chazz!"

"Sounds nice, but I think I prefer it right here, but, hey, drop me a line if you're ever in my 'hood, ok?"

"Same with you, that is, if you ever find a time vortex warping loop hole or you know what? I'll just call you."

Abidos took the group back to the school and took them back to the island.

"Farewell!" said Abidos as his ship flew up to the sky and disappeared.

The group then decided to walk back to the school. Tired from their experience that day.

"Ya know, Abidos wasn't such a bad guy," said Jaden as he showed everyone the necklace Abidos gave him. "I mean, hey, look what he gave me. I'm starting to get quite a collection, but where's the Shadow Rider with a skateboard?"

"I don't see why Jaden gets all the free stuff?" grumbled Chazz.

"Prolly cuz I beat a dueling legend."

"Oh, so now he's a legend cuz you beat him?" yelled Chazz.

"Well Chazz, that is what the history books say that he is, right?" said Syrus with a smile.

"Well we know the truth!" yelled Chazz, scaring Syrus and causing the Obolisk Blue to smile at each other. "He was a sham, a fake!"

"Jaden the Legend Slayer. I like the sound of that," said Jaden with a smile.


	22. Dark Arena Activates!

Episode(s): 41

"Alexis," said Rose as she stood next to her friend in the medical room. "Everything will work out for Atticus."

"Thanks Rose," said Alexis as she smiled at her friend. She then started to remines about her friend.

"You miss him," said a voice, shocking the two girls who looked around, "but there is a way to get him back."

"Who's there?" yelled Rose as she pulled Alexis from her seat and put her behind her **. 'If it's a Shadow Rider, I don't want Alexis getting caught in the cross hairs.'**

"Come with me, Key-keeper, and I will give your friends brother all of his memories back," said the voice as a shadow appeared not to far away from the girls. "That is if you can defeat me in a duel."

"Rose!" said Alexis as her friend started to walk toward the shadow. Her eyes blank and un-seeing.

"At the place we first met! The Abandoned Dorm!" said the man as he appeared behind Rose and grabbed her.

"Rose!" yelled Alexis, only to faint do to an unseen force.

The presence of darkness woke Atticus who reached out toward the back of the man as he walked into the shadow with Rose.

"What's going on? Who was that?" he asked as the portal closed behind the two.

 **~Not Long After~**

"Ohh!" said Rose as he eyes came back into focus to notice that she is in the Abandoned Dorm.

"Alright, so we duel, and if I win you will restore Atticus' memory!" declared Rose with a frown. "That's the deal!"

"Your end of it, at least. But if I win, I get something, too. Your Spirit Key and your soul to take back with me to the Shadow Realm!" said Titan. "You see, dear, when you and I first met up, I was but a charlatan of the shadows. However, since being taken in by them, I am now the real deal, an authentic Shadow Rider!"

He then tossed a duel disk toward Rose. She picked it up and got ready.

"Let us begin!" said Titan.

"There they are!" yelled Syrus as he and the others got to the arena.

They're gonna duel!" said Chumley as he and Jaden helped Atticus along. One of his arms on their shoulders. They had put his Obelisk Blue jacket on him. Alexis was also there.

"And how? Rose!" yelled Jaden. "We're here for you, now beat this creep!"

"AHHH! Then this isn't about collecting that check," said Crowler happily.

"What 'check?' What does that mean?" asked Chazz angrily.

"Oh, nothing," said Crowler with a nervous laugh.

"Let's duel!" said the two duelist.

"Ready yourself for the shadows!" said Titan as he drew a card. "I summon Picador Fiend in attack mode! Then I'll place one facedown and end my turn."

"But not your troubles!" said Rose as she drew a card. "I summon Dark Rose!"

Dark Rose is a monster with rose red hair, an all-black body suite, and a rose mask.

"I thought we were dueling, not playing dollies," taunted Titan.

"Yeah, well this so-called dollie is about to play havoc with your life points!" said Rose with anger.

"It's true, she does have me outmatched," said Titan with laughter. "You'll beat my monster easily!"

 **'He's to happy, his facedown must be something good,'** thought Rose as she grabbed one of her cards.

"I play Allegro Toile! It gives my Dark Rose a little extra kick by destroying one trap or spell card on the field!" said Rose with a smirk.

"NO!" said Titan in shock.

"Now, Dark Rose, attack directly!" said Rose as her monster attacked, taking down Titan's life points to 3,000. "Next I place a facedown and end my turn."

"Hey, Rose is winning!" said Syrus.

"It's true," said Zane, "so far, her resolve to win for Atticus and Alexis has proven stronger than Titan's shadow creatures."

"Well, we'll just see about that!" declared Titan as he drew a card. "Now, Picador Fiend, attack Dark Rose!"

"Nice try! But I play Transfer Rose! And now I take the attack," said Rose as the attack hit her, dropping her life points to 2,400. Her friends watched in shock.

"So, why'd I do it?" asked Rose, rhetorically. "Because now, you have to take a direct hit from Dark Rose!"

"What?" said Titan in shock.

"Go! Rose Kick!" said Rose as Titan's life points went down 2,000.

"Alright! You show him, Rose!" said Jaden, causing Chazz to glare at him.

"GO ROSE!" yelled Chazz in Jaden's ears, pissing Jaden off as the two glared at each other.

"It's a long duel, Jaden," said Zane as if nothing weird was going on. "Don't start celebrating yet."

 **'I have this feeling that this isn't going to go well,'** thought Rose as Titan started to laugh. **'I need to get ready for the worse.'**

"I just remembered our first encounter," laughed the man. "My, how the table have turned."

"Yeah, you got that right! Now I'm gonna kick your ass!" said Rose in anger.

"No, dear," said the man with a smirk, shocking Rose, "I mean, before you were the bait luring my prey to me. But now, you're the one who's my quarry, my target!

"And now, dear, I'm going to treat you as such! I play Ritual of the Matador! And next, I sacrifice the Level Six Summoned Skull in order to summon Matador Fiend!"

"Zero attack and defense points?" question Rose. **'I can't think that this monster is weak. Chazz proved that a monster like this can be strong.'**

"I activate Dark Arena!" said Titan with a smirk.

"The field! I can't see!" said Rose as she tried to look around. She then heard growls. **'How can I fight what I can't see?'**

"Your move!" laughed Titan.

 **'With this Dark Arena card in play, I can't see anything, including what monsters Titan has out!'** thought Rose in anger.

"The darkness is fitting for a Shadow Duel, don't you think? But still, allow me to shed at least some light on the situation. Here, in the Dark Arena, you monsters in attack mode must attack. But, since they can't see, I am allowed to choose their target for them."

"Well then, that's a case of the blind leading the blind," declared Rose "after all, just because my monsters and I can't see, it doesn't mean we can't win! I'll just need someone who really packs a powerful punch!

"Here we go! My draw! Perfect. I activate the spell card: Polymerization! Fusing Rose Princess and Dark Guardian to create Rose Guardian! And what's cool about her is her special effect changes with the number of monster you have."

"Does it?"

"Yeah! And since you have two monster out on the field, Rose Guardian's attack points are doubled to 4,200!"

"4,200 attack points?" laughed Titan. "Whatever will I do?"

"You'll get your butt kicked, cuz now it doesn't matter who I attack! My Guardian's the strongest creature out! She'll take down any target! Now, go in!"

"Face her, Matador Fiend!"

"Go Strike of Petals!"

Rose Guardian went to attack but it failed, and she was destroyed.

"What? My Rose Guardian is so much stronger than that Matador Fiend! She should win this! What's going on?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Didn't you know? Matador Fiend cannot be destroyed in battle, and it also doesn't take damage. Although, the monster that battles it is destroyed."

"No way!"

"There's more. Just like I said before, every monster that's in attack mode here must now battle each other."

"I don't think so! Dark Rose's special ability allows her to attack you directly! So, your Matador Fiend will have to pick a fight with someone else!"

"You're wrong again!" laughed Titan. "Dark Rose's special ability only activates if there are no monsters on my field with less attack points, but my Matador Fiend has zero attack points. So, you can see, Dark Rose's effect can't be used. Nor will it ever be used again after Picador Fiend gets done with her! This will be her last dance!'

"No!" said Rose as her life points went down to 1,800.

"Haha," laughed Titan.

"So this is what a Shadow Game feels like."

"Don't worry Rose. At least Atticus and Alexis won't remember that you failed them," laughed Titan.

"I'm not going to fail them!" declared Rose as she played a card. "I play Knight Rose in defense mode! Gimme your best shot."

"Dear, if you actually knew what my best was I doubt that you would be so eager for it."

"Oh really?" said Rose angerly.

"Haven't you realized yet? I'm not the same duelist you knew from before. I changed when the shadow took me in," said Titan as he started to laugh crazily. "So you see, now, I'm more powerful than ever!"

"And uglier," said Rose, ignored. "But I got news for you! True dueling power doesn't come from some Shadow Charm! It comes from the reasons why you're gonna lose this! Got it!"

"The reasons why you duel?" asked Titan in a mocking voice. "Where did you get that from? Surely not from your beloved friends? Pathetic!"

"No, it's not!"

"Just wait! After all, once I banish you to the Shadows, you'll see what I mean. And you'll see soon! Because the Picador Fiend now attacks you directly!"

"Ahhh!" yelled Rose as she was attacked. Her life points dropped to 200 as she dropped to her knees.

"The end is near," laughed Titan. "The Shadows beckon. You squirm but they still close in. it is simply a matter of time now."

' **I know that. With Knight Rose's special ability, I can discard one card from my hand and destroy one of his monsters, but since I don't have any cards right now I'll have to wait until next round to use it,'** thought Rose as she grit her teeth.

"What are you plotting over there?" asked Titan with a laugh. "Let me guess. Something with Knight Rose?"

' **Shit!'**

"Well, don't even bother! She won't be around for much longer! I summon Banderillero Fiend! And his special ability destroys your Knight Rose!

"Get up! Or are your reasons for dueling not enough anymore? Hahaha!"

' **It doesn't matter! I have to keep fighting! No matter the cost! I refuse to be weak! I need to win this for Alexis and Atticus. For everyone!'** thought Rose as she got to her feet.

"What's this!" exclaimed Titan, surprised.

"This is my turn!" said Rose as she drew a card. "And I activate Pot of Greed! Hmm. And with one, I can call back an old card. I play The Warrior Returning Alive to bring back Dark Guardian to my hand. Then I'll activate the spell card Fusion Recovery! It allows me to bring back Polymerization and Rose Princess from my graveyard!"

"What!?"

"Next, I'll activate Polymerization and fuse them together to bring out Rose Guardian! You remember her? Well now she's back and ready to get some sweet revenge! This is so over! Your shadow powers have failed you!"

"You're delirious," said Titan with a smirk. "I still have three monsters out and you are still in the dark."

"Yeah, maybe," said Rose with a smirk, "but not for long! Because my Rose Guardian's about to bring the light!"

"You lie!"

"Wrong! Since you have three monsters on the field Guardian's special ability, Shining Guardian Light, activates! Canceling any and all affects you have out!"

"No fair!" whined Titan, like a child.

"Rose is okay!" said Jaden as he and the others were finally able to see her again as the darkness had disappeared.

"And there's more!" said Rose as if nothing had happened. "Matador Fiend's special ability to reduce battle damage to zero is negated, too!"

"No!" yelled Titan.

"So go! Rose Guardian! Attack with Guardian Rose Slash!"

"Yes!" yelled the boys and Alexis, minus Zane who just smirked, as Titan's life points went down to zero.

"No! No! NO! NOT AGAIN!" yelled Titan as he was swallowed up by the darkness as the others watched.

 _ **~Outside The Abandoned Dorms~**_

"Atticus," said Alexis as she looked at her brother in happiness.

"Lexi," he said in return with a smile. They then hugged.

"Atticus, I have a question," said Rose as she looked at the two siblings. Atticus turned to look at her.

"Yes?" he asked, confused.

"How did you end up in the Shadow realm?"

"It wasn't by choice," he said as he looked at her and the others. "One day, a group of us were told to meet at the Abandoned Dorm. And then, well, it happened.

"See, there was supposed to be a duel test in the basement, but instead, we found hundreds of those little Shadow Fiends. I couldn't escape."

The others looked at him in shock as he sounded as if he would break down any moment.

"I was then brought to the shadow realm and kept. For months they brainwashed me 'till I became this thing called Nightshroud."

"But who was it that brainwashed you?" asked Alexis, upset.

"I never did figure that out," he said as he shook his head, but then he looked thoughtful. "However, the person who call me to take the duel test was Professor Banner."

"Our Professor Banner?" asked Jaden in shock as everyone gasped.

' **What's going on?'** thought Rose to herself as she looked at Atticus in shock. **'Why would Banner be apart of this?'**


	23. Duel Monster Spirit Day!

Duel Monster Spirit Day

Episode(s): 42

"So, Professor Banner's gone missing?" asked Jaden from where he sat on the stairs of the Slifer Red Dorms. Zane, Alexis, Atticus, Rose, and Bastion standing around him. "That sure is strange."

"No kidding," said Alexis. As she leaned on the railing.

"Especially after what you told us about him, Atticus," said Rose from where she sat next to Jaden.

"I wish that it weren't true," said Atticus from next to his sister.

"But it is," said Bastion from across his Zane who was leaning against a wall. "He's the one who led you to the Abandoned Dorm, the one who lured you to the shadows."

"That may be," said Zane, "but the question we need to answer is why."

"I got a question: what is Chazz doing?" said Jaden, causing the others to look at Chazz who was making kissing sounds.

"Yoo-hoo!" said Chazz with a cat toy. "Ah, come on, where are ya?"

"Uh, where is what, Chazz?" asked Jaden.

"His mind, Jay. Clearly he's lost it," said Bastion with a straight face, causing Jaden to smile.

"No," said Chazz as he turned to look at the group, "I'm looking for Banner's cat, 'cause if we find him, we'll find Banner, B-duh!"

"B-duh? Has Chazz lost his mind again?" asked Syrus as he walked up to the group.

"Hey, what's up, Sy?" asked Jaden as he noticed his friend.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"Sweet poster," said Jaden as he and the others looked at the poster that Chumley made. It was a poster of the Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Light Magician, and Light Magician girl in them.

"Yeah, besides that Dark Magician and Light Magician being in it, Chum did a pretty good job," said Syrus with a smile.

"Yeah, agreed!"

"I rule," declared Chumly with a nod.

"So, a costume duel?" asked Atticus with intrigue as he looked at Rose who just blushed.

"Tight idea!" said Jaden with a smirk as he also looked at Rose.

' **Why are they looking at me?'** she thought as she moved toward Zane.

"So, who's dressing up as Dark Magician Girl? Or Light Magician Girl?" asked Zane.

"Sy, you have someone, right?" asked Atticus.

"Uh, not really, but no one will mind," said Syrus as he crossed his arms. "I'm just using her to help sell the duel. You know, advertising."

"Uh, false advertising, maybe," said Bastion in concern.

"Wow. I really didn't think of that. Guess I'll need to find someone to play the part then: like Alexis and Rose!"

"Yes. A fine idea!"

"Yeah, good call," said Jaden with a grin.

"Uh, I can be the Dark Magician or Light Magician guy," said Chumley.

"So, girls," said Syrus as he smiled at the girls, ignoring Chumley, "will ya do it? Come on, please! Please! Please! Whadaya say?"

"I actually already have a costume," said Alexis with a smirk, "but I have a better idea who could be the Dark Magician Girl, anyway."

"Well, why don't we see who?" said Rose with a laugh. Alexis turned to her friend and smiled.

"Actually Rose, I left your costume in your dorm. Why don't you go and try it on?"

"Uh, okay?" said Rose confused as she was pushed toward the Obelisk Blue dorms. "I guess I'll see you all later!"

 _ **~Later On~**_

"I think that we dressed up great!" said Jaden with a smile as he then looked around. "And Rose?"

"Rose, why don't you show them who you are?" said Alexis with a smirk.

"Coming!" said Rose from behind the door. The door opened and they all started at who came out. It was the Light Magician Girl.

"You look great!" said Alexis with a smile.

"Does it look a little weird? I think my boobs might be to big?" asked Rose with a blush. This caused the boys to blush too.

"You look great," said the boys with blushed.

"Uh, I don't remember XYZ Dragon Cannon ever blushing, Chazz," said Syrus mockingly, causing the boy to glare at him.

"Shut up!" yelled Chaz as he tried to turn away and walk away. "Now let's get down to business and start this costume duel! Who's it going to be?"

' **I don't think anyone wants to participate,'** thought Rose with sweat drop.

"Alright, Jaden!" said Chazz as he pointed at Jaden. "Since no one's volunteering, I'm gonna volunteer for you! You're dueling!"

"Really, I am?" asked Jaden in shock, "Well, ok! Get your game on Chazz!"

"Yeah, right," said Chazz, annoyed. "I can't duel in this costume. I can hardly walk!"

"Alright. Chumley, duel?" asked Jaden with a smile.

"I really shouldn't. Just ate," said Chumley with a smile.

"You, Syrus?"

"Sorry, but I'm the Master of Ceremonies for this duel! I'm doing the play by play!" said Syrus with a smile as a flash went off. The group turned to see Atticus taking pictures of Alexis and Rose.

"What are you doing?" asked Alexis, annoyed with her brother.

"You know, just big brother stuff," said Atticus with a smile, "like taking embarrassing photos of you that I can show mom and dad later!"

"That's nice and all, but you aren't my brother," said Rose with a glare.

"Well, I need to tell them I have a girlfriend," he said with a smirk, causing everyone to glare at him.

"You hold him down and I'll beat him," said Rose as she cracked her knuckles.

"You bet," said Alexis as she did the same. The two then went chasing Atticus as he laughed.

"Come on girls! You're gonna have to be faster than that!" laughed Atticus.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, you pervert!" yelled Rose.

"I am not a pervert! I can't help that my sister is friends with such a beautiful girl!" yelled Atticus as he continued to run. Rose's face went red with embarrassment while Alexis' face turned red in anger.

"Stop flirting with my friend!" she yelled as she ran faster.

"Shit!" said Atticus once he noticed she was nearly to him. **'I'm too young to die!'**

"Atticus!" yelled the two girls as they chased him.

"Have mercy!" yelled Atticus as he ran back to the Slifer Red dorms.

"Never!" yelled the two girls. They stopped once they got to the dueling arena.

"Who's Jaden facing?" asked Rose as she and Alexis stopped next to Bastion, who was dressed up as a cat.

"Dark Magician Girl," he replied, causing the other three to turn and look.

"He's gonna lose!" said Atticus in shock.

"No way!" said Rose, causing some of the people to look their way.

"I play a trap!" yelled Jaden. "Staunch Defender!"

"Strange choice," said Alexis as they watched. "That'll force all her monsters to attack."

"Hmm? Hey, what gives?" asked the Dark Magician Girl. "Why would you want me to attack with everyone that I have out?"

"Hmm. Because of what I have out!" said Jaden with a smirk. Another trap! Hero Barrier!"

"Oh! Hmm. You got me good there!" she said with a smile.

"Got who? What? Where?" asked a confused Syrus.

"Well, we can tell what Syrus is thinking while all of this is going on," said Rose with a sweat drop as she turned to look at Zane.

"Quite," he said with a light blush, causing Rose to chuckle.

"Chazz, care to explain how she'll get out of this?" asked Syrus as he held his microphone up to Chazz.

"She's not going to get out of this one, Sy," said Chazz as he looked at the field. "Hero Barrier blocked her Magician Girl's attack and now Staunch Defender forces those Valykrias to go after the Flame Wingman."

"But he's way stronger than them!"

"Don't do it! We beg you!" cried out the fan boys on the sidelines, shocking the small group of sane people.

"Sorry! But I play to win!" said Jaden in anger. "Flame Wingman! Get ready! Now blast 'em!"

This attack brought down Dark Magician Girls life points to 1,500.

"Aw, man!" said Syrus in disappointment. "It doesn't look good for her, does it."

"Let me put it this way: no," said Chazz in boredom **. 'It would be so much better if my Rose was playing!'**

The fan boys then started crying, causing Rose to become angry.

"That's enough! She isn't dying!" she yelled, causing everyone to stop and look at her in shock.

"You look so cute as the Light Magician Girl!" said Dark Magician Girl with a smile. Rose blushed and smiled back, causing the fan boys to blush like crazy.

"Thank you very much, you look great as well!"

' **It's like a dream come true!'** thought many of the boys.

"Now then! If I'm gonna go down, I'll go down fighting!" said the Dark Magician Girl with determination. "Magician's Valykria! Attack!"

"And that'll do it!" said Chazz as the Dark Magician Girls life points went down to 1,000. "When Flame Wingman destroys a monster in battle the opponent takes damage equal to that destroyed monster's attack points!"

"Thanks! What a fun match!" laughed Dark Magician Girl as her life points went down to zero. "See you around, Jaden, and you guys too!"

"You're the best! You made this duel!" yelled the fanboys and few fangirls.

"And I really like your costume Rose! You're beautiful! Don't you all agree! You go Dark Magician Girl!" she said, causing all the fans to turn toward Rose who looked embarrassed.

"Please take a picture with us!" yelled the fans as they surrounded Rose.

"Guys! Help!" she yelled in shock. Atticus, Zane, and Bastion quickly pulled her out and blocked the crazy fans from her.

"Now, now, give her time," said Atticus with a smile. "We have a booth at the Obelisk Blue dorms so that you guys can take a picture with her! It's $10 per picture!"

"When did you set up a booth?" asked Alexis in shock.

"When I knew what you were going to be dressed as. Might as well make some money out of it!"

"I feel extorted," said Rose with a pout, causing many of the guys to get nose bleeds.

"You will keep 50% of the profit," said Zane as he glared at anyone who tried to get close to either of the girls.

"Kay."

"Now! A picture with the winner!" said Atticus as he dragged her toward Jaden who blushed. "Make it cute!"

"Good job, Jaden!" said Rose with a smile. Jaden grinned back.

"Thanks!"

"Picture!" yelled Atticus, impatient.

The two laughed and moved to stand next to each other. Jaden had his left arm around Rose's waist as he smiled at the camera. Rose stood next to him with a smile as well. Right before Atticus took the picture, Rose turned her head and kissed Jaden on the check, shocking him and causing the fans to sigh in sadness.

"Nice pic!" yelled Atticus with a big smile. "I'll have it to you both tomorrow!"

"A kiss for the winner," said Rose with a blush as Jaden looked at her.

"Yeah," he said in a daze. **'She kissed me, and she dressed like that. I'm going to have trouble sleeping for a while.'**

"Now a picture of our Light Magician Girl with the Dark Magician Girl!" yelled Atticus, causing all the fans to yell in agreement. He pulled Rose toward the Dark Magician Girl and had them pose together.

The two girls smiled and struck different poses as Atticus took pictures of them. They laughed and even hugged in one, not realizing it pushed their boobs together, causing all the boys to get nose bleeds.

"What happened?" asked Dark Magician Girl.

"Their idiots, don't worry about it," said Alexis.

"Let's party!" yelled Rose as she and the other two girls walked away. Soon followed by everyone else.

The students then went and partied till night came, never realizing that the duel monsters that they hold so dear, where watching them and smiling down on them on the most spiritual of days.


	24. The Seventh Shadow Rider

Episode(s): 44 – 46

"It'll be okay, Jaden," said Syrus as he looked at Jaden who had his head in his arms.

' **Poor Jaden. He must really miss Professor Banner,'** thought Rose as she looked at her friends who were sitting in front of her.

"I wonder who they are going to have substitute the class," wondered Alexis out loud. Rose looked at her friend.

"Knowing our luck, it's going to be someone who sucks," said Rose, causing Chazz to snort on the other side of Alexis. He was about to say something when he notice a teach come into the class hall.

"Fuck. Looks like you're right," he said as they all looked at Professor Crowler. All the students started to complain.

"Good morning students. Guess what?" said Crowler as he started to walk toward the desk. "Due to Professor Banner's absence, I will be you substitute teacher for the day. Aren't you lucky! Because I'm certainly not. It was supposed to be my day off!"

The students watched as he slammed his books down and fumed. He then started to set up everything for his lessons.

"Let's see here," he said as he put something on the projector. "The Mark of Amnael. Yes, it looks like that's where Professor Banner left off. More Duel Alchemy Nonsense, I'm sure."

' **How can he say that?'** thought Rose in anger.

"Hmm, well, according to these tomes, the basics of this are, hm, nor that, well, that doesn't make any sense. I don't even know how to pronounce that word."

' **Why is he here?'** thought Rose with a sweat drop.

"What gibberish!" yelled Crowler as he slammed the book close. "This makes no sense! And he's teaching you it!? Perhaps it's a good thing he's missing! After all, he's polluting your young minds with twaddle! It's grade academic tripe! Pure rubbish! Useless Prattle!"

 _ **~Some Time Later~**_

"Alright. It's time for some lab work. According to the syllabus," said Crowler as he messed around with some chemicals. He then put a metal into a chemical mixture. "Now let's see here. I think this is right."

"Oh!" said everyone in shock as it started to glow. It then exploded.

' **Karma?'** thought Rose with a sweat drop as Crowler pulled the metal off of his forehead and screamed in pain. Rose and Alexis tried not to laugh.

"What gobbledygook Duel Alchemy is! What pure drivel!" yelled Crowler as everyone else laughed. He then looked at Jaden who was talking to Syrus.

"Mr. Slifer Slacker!" yelled Crowler, causing Jaden to straighten up.

"Uh, yes, sir?" said Jaden in shock.

"Chancellor Sheppard would like a word!"

"Me?" said Jaden in shock as he stood up.

"That's right. And the rest of the gang. Report to him at once!" said Crowler causing Bastion, Chazz, and Rose to look up in shock.

 _ **~Chancellor Sheppard's office~**_

"What do you mean he's still lost?" asked Jaden as he put his hands on the desk. He and the rest of the group were standing in front of Sheppard's desk along with Zane. "Professor Banner couldn't have just vanished into thin air! Could he?"

"Who knows," said Sheppard with his arms crossed from where he sat in his chair, eyes closed. "Bottom line is we've looked everywhere and can't find him."

"And there's no log of him leaving the island," said Crowler from his position, standing next to Sheppard.

"So, then I think we all know what happened," declared Chazz as he closed his eyes and tilted his head up. "Banner got sucked into the shadows.

"Don't say that!" said Rose with a glare.

"No. If he lost a shadow game, a spirit gate would have opened and there's been no new activity," said Sheppard with certainty.

"But still," said Jaden with a look of concern, "I have a feeling that the Shadow Riders have something to do with all of this. But what? That's what we got to find out!"

 _ **~Later That Day~**_

"Maybe we should run some of this by Atticus?" said Alexis to Rose as the two girls walked around. Rose had just finished telling her what had happened with Sheppard and the others.

"Maybe," said Rose with a smile as she looked up at the sky.

"Well, I need to go and finish my report for class, so I'll see you later!" said Alexis as she started to walk away from her friend.

"Later!" said Rose as she started to walk toward Atticus' room. She walked for a while in silence, trying to think of reasons for Banner's disappearance.

Once she got toward the boys' dorms, she looked up with a smile at Atticus' room. Her smile quickly turned into a frown and she started running.

Rose ran until she got to Atticus' room and saw the door ajar. Rose pushed it opened to see that the room was a mess. The windows broken, furniture turned over, plants knocked over.

"Atticus!" yelled Rose in shock. "He's gone!"

She looked down on the grown to see something glowing. She glared at it as it disappeared.

"Alright! Who's there!" she called out. She ran to the balcony to see a hooded figure running away. She jumped onto the railing and followed the mysterious person into the forest.

"Where is Atticus?" she called out to the person as she chased them. They ran for a while, until the mysterious person stopped underneath a tree and looked at her with glowing yellow eyes.

"Let me guess, you're a Shadow Rider," said Rose in annoyance. The mysterious person only got their duel disk ready. "Let's go. I plan on getting Atticus back to his sister and you are not about to stop me!"

"Let's duel!" yelled Rose as the duel started. "Me first! I play Polymerization and fuse Flower Dance and Thorn Heart to create Thorn Dancer! Thorn Dancer attack!"

Before the attack could hit, the duelist pulled out a trap card.

"Shit," said Rose with gritted teeth. **'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?'**

Without saying a word, the duelist played a card. Rose watched in shock a meteors fell from the sky and melted her monster.

"Fuck. My Thorn Dancer! She's gone!" said Rose in shock. She then looked up to see a shadow behind the duelist. It was a monster. "And now I'm wide open to an attack!"

The monster attacked, wiping out the rest of Roses life points. She fell to the ground and fainted, her cards falling out of her duel disk and onto the forest ground.

The mysterious person walked up to the unconscious girl and opened a book. A green light surrounded Rose and she disappeared into the book. The person then walked away, leaving the cards on the floor.

 _ **~Sometime Later~**_

The island shook as three keys were placed into the lock. Geysers of color shot up around the school.

"What's going on?" yelled Syrus as he, Jaden, and Chumley tried to keep their balance.

"I don't know, but I know it ain't a good thing!" yelled Jaden in shock and fear.

 _ **~Inside the book~**_

"What?" said Chazz as he woke up. He looked around to see two bubbles in front of him with people in them. "Rose? Atticus too?"

Neither teen moved at the sound of their name.

"Where on earth am I?" he said as he looked around, only to notice that he was looking at the earth. His eyes widened and he looked on in fear. "I mean where off the earth am I!?"

"Mm. What happened?" said Rose as she sat up. She then gasped. "I lost my duel!"

"Rose!" yelled Chazz as he noticed she was awake. He was banging against his bubble.

"Chazz?" said Rose in shock as she stood up.

"When we lost to that mysterious person, we must have been sent here," said Chazz as he nodded to the bubble next to her. Rose turned around to see Atticus.

"Atticus!" she said in shock. She then turned back to Chazz. "How do we get out of here?"

"I don't know, but I don't think we want to get out of the bubbles yet," he said as he looked toward the earth, causing Rose to gasp.

"Well, we're fucked," said Rose as she glared at nothing.

"So, it looks like. Fucking Jaden better win!" said Chazz, causing Rose to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you cheering Jaden on?" she said with a smirk.

"No! He's just the only person left since Banner is missing!" yelled Chazz with red cheeks, causing Rose to giggle, making his face redder.

"What's the light!" said Rose in shock as a bright light started to engulf them.

As the light shined, the two where knocked out. When the light disappeared, the three teens were back where they where when they lost their duels. Rose and Chazz were in the forest while Atticus was in his room.

There they laid until Jaden and company found them and took them back to the school.


	25. Chazz-anova!

Episode(s): 47

Rose was standing with Zane at the pier, looking out onto the ocean.

"I'm glad you're okay," said Zane to Rose as he looked forward. Rose scrunched up her face in annoyance.

"Okay? I was taken hostage by some clone of who I thought was our professor," complained Rose.

"Yeah, but things like that aren't the rare around here," said Zane with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up!" said Rose with a pout as she hit her friend on the shoulder. "I have to admit though, the fact that Banner was able to create a clone of himself is amazing! Imagine if it could be stable. All the people that it could help."

"And all the people who would go crazy."

"That is true," laughed Rose.

"Anyway," said Zane with a smile as he turned to Rose. She could see the amusement in his eyes. "Maybe you need a bodyguard."

"You think so?" said Rose with a smile. She then threw her hair over her shoulder and looked up. "I think I can take care of myself just fine. Even so, it's nice to know you care."

"Rosy, I'll miss you when I graduate from here," said Zane with a kind smile. Rose looked at the ocean with a light blush. Zane quickly looked forward.

"Uh, it looks like Atticus is back to normal," he said, trying to change the subject.

"If that's what you call normal," said Rose with a sweat drop as she remembered all the crazy things her friends' older brother has been up too. "I can't believe you two are best friends."

"He's like a leech you can't get off," he replied with a sigh.

"Poor Alexis," giggled Rose. Zane chuckled.

 _ **~The Next Day~**_

"He did what!" yelled Rose as she, Zane, Jaden, Bastion, Alexis, Chumley, and Syrus ran to the beach.

"He stole the spirit keys and left a note," said Syrus as they ran.

"I'm gonna kill the idiot," declared the girl as her light purple hair flared around her and het ocean blue eyes glared ahead.

"Why do I have a feeling that Atticus somehow is involved," said Alexis in anger.

"Because he's an idiot, too."

' **They are pissed,'** thought all the boys with sweat drops.

The group ran until they saw Chazz. He wore all the keys around his neck.

"There he is!" exclaimed Jaden.

"Joke's over! Give us the keys before I beat you! And I mean with my fist!" said Rose as she went to make a step forward. Luckily for Chazz, Zane held her back.

"Not yet," said Chazz, nervously.

"When then?" asked Alexis.

"When Rose and I duel! So, let's go!"

"Huh?" said Rose in shock. The others also looked on in shock.

"Why do you want to duel her?" asked Jaden.

"Because, I'm in love! Got it!" declared Chazz. "And Rose is, too! She just doesn't know it yet, but soon she will!"

"And how is that?" asked Jaden, Chumley, and Syrus. Zane, Alexis, and Bastion stared with their mouths open. Rose glared.

"Why the fuck do you think that?" yelled Rose.

"Because I told him so!" declared Atticus from where he was on the water. Everyone turned to look at him.

"And how would you know?" ask Zane in annoyance.

""Cause I know girls. And beautiful Rose needs a helping hand with her love life! Come on! He stole the spirit keys, just for you!"

"How is that a good thing?" asked Rose with annoyance. "And shouldn't you be focusing on Alexis' love life, she is your sister. Hell, even Zane's, he is your best friend!"

"My sister is too young to be with anyone. Do you like Zane? You would make a cute couple! How about it Zane?" asked Atticus with a smile.

"You're supposed to be helping me, damnit!" yelled Chazz in anger.

"Right, Sorry," laughed Atticus.

' **At times like this, I wish he was back in a coma!'** thought Alexis as she glared at her brother.

"Anyone up for just tackling him?" asked Zane as he covered his face with his hand. Embarrassed with his friend.

"Not a bad thought," said Jaden as he glared at Chazz. **'What makes him think that Rose likes him!'**

"What's the hold up!" said Chazz in annoyance.

Rose closed her eyes and sighed. **'Well, I guess one duel couldn't hurt.'**

Everyone watched Rose as she opened her eyes.

"Fine! I'll fucking duel," she said in anger. Chazz cheered along with Atticus.

"You got her now, Chazz!" said Atticus, causing Jaden and Zane to glare at him **. 'Please let me survive this.'**

"One thing! No matter what, you have to return the keys!" declared Rose. She then turned to look at Zane and Bastion. "You guys don't think there will be any consequences for him losing, do you?"

"There shouldn't be, but who knows," said Bastion with narrowed eyes.

"Right! But I get something in their place: you as a girlfriend! And then we can hold hands!" declared Chazz with hearts in his eyes. Everyone else sweat dropped while Atticus cheered him on. "Take walks! Write notes! That's the deal!"

"Fine! But that shit isn't going to happen! Now lets duel!" said Rose as she got ready.

"I will and I'll show you that you love me!"

"Let's duel!" said the two.

"Here goes!" said Chazz as he drew a card. "I'll start with Ojama Yellow!"

" _Hi there! Boss thinks you're cute_!" declared Yellow, causing Rose to sweat drop.

"And after two facedowns. I'll play the spell card Love Letter! And here is how it works! First off, if I got a facedown and a monster sittin' on my field, you get a gift. You see, either my monster, or my facedown card becomes yours.

"Aren't I sweet? Yeah, I know it. And that's just the first of lots of gifts you'll be getting from me! The Chazz knows how to treat his ladies!"

"I'm not your lady! But if I have to take your gift, I'll take a facedown," said Rose with a disgusted face. **'I am so killing the two idiots later. Maybe I can get Zane to help me! I'm sure Alexis will help with her brother!'**

"But there's more! I play the spell card Giant Trunade! What it does is bring all spells and traps back to our hands! So, I'll take that facedown back now!" said Chazz as the cards went back to his hand. "Aw. That's so sweet of you to give me this back so soon! And now I think I'll play it. Hidden Wish!"

"Hmm," hummed Atticus as he strummed his ukulele. Rose just gave him an annoyed look.

"When Hidden Wish returns from my opponent's field and back to me, it deal 1,000 points of damage to you!'

"Fuck," said Rose as her life points went down to 3,000.

"Then I regain 1,000 points!" said Chazz as his points went up to 5,000. "So, I guess I should say: thanks, darling. I just know that us dueling would bring us closer. Are you feeling the sparks!"

"Ugh," said Rose with a creeped-out face.

"I'm feeling nauseous," said Syrus as the other boys nodded.

"And now, I'll activate my other facedown, the card known as Treasure Map! Once I send it to the graveyard, I get to draw two more cards! And I'll lay them facedown and end my turn."

"Alright, I summon Dark Guardian in attack mode! Now take out the Ojama Yellow! Dark Slasher!"

" _Boss!"_ cried out yellow.

"Don't worry," grunted Chazz as he showed his facedown. "Go! Ring of Destruction! Now we both get hit with you monster's attack points!"

Dark Guardian exploded, taking down the two duelists life points. Chazz' went down to 3,600 while Rose's went down to 1,600.

"Like a couple!"

"That's so romantic," said Atticus with a smile. After all, what's love without pain? Nice work, Don Juan!"

"You know it, Atticus," said Chazz as they gave each other thumbs up.

"Can you feel the love?" asked Atticus to Rose. She just scoffed.

"Puh-leeze. Stop encouraging him. You make his delusions worse," she said as she glared.

"Then maybe this will work!" said Chazz as he drew a card. "I play the spell card, Graceful Charity! Now I draw three new cards and discard two cards from my hand. Oh, Pot of Greed. Looks like I get two more.

"Now go, facedown! Oh yeah! It's Ojama Trio!" said Chazz as monsters appeared on Rose's side of the field. "Now three Ojama tokens get to crash your field in defense mode! And if one of them gets wiped out, you lose 300 points. It's so great to share.

"Next I'll cast my spell card Polymerization! Let's go, guys! Ojama Black, Ojama Green, and Ojama Yellow! Fuse and form Ojama King!"

" _Ojama!"_ yelled the three monsters as they became one.

" _Ojama!"_ yelled out the Ojama King.

' **Ew,'** thought Rose with a twitching eyebrow.

"And thanks to Ojama King's special ability: up to three of your monster slot zones are reclassified as occupied!" said Chazz with a smirk.

' **Shit! I can't play any monsters. What am I going to do?'** thought Rose with a shocked face.

"Next I'll throw a facedown and end my turn," said Chazz as he smirked and grabbed the keys around his neck. "So, tell me, are you feeling the fuzzies yet? After all, I filled up your field to show how my heart is full of love! Right?"

"He is so gone," said Syrus with a disappointed look as Chazz looked at Rose with starry eyes. Chumley, Jaden, and Alexis nodded.

"It is sort of romantic," said Bastion, hesitantly. The others turned to him in shock.

"No," said Zane and Jaden.

' **He doesn't deserve her,'** thought Jaden as his bangs shadowed his eyes, preventing anyone from seeing them turn yellowish gold for a few seconds before turning back.

' **What do I do? I might be able to win if I can summon a stronger monster, but I can't even sacrifice those stupid Ojama creeps. Wait!'** thought Rose as she drew a card. "I think I got it!"

"Got what?" asked Atticus in shock.

' **This should throw "Chazz-anova" for a loop!'** thought Rose as she put a card facedown. "I'm layin' a facedown! And that is it!"

"My turn! I play a little card I like to call Dress Up! The new duds give Ojama King an extra 300 attack points!" said Chazz.

" _Thanks for the threads!"_ said Ojama King as a suite appeared on him.

"And it's got another bonus! I get to switch one of your monster to attack mode! Another gift for you!"

"But wait, all of the monster of her field have no attack pints!" said Syrus in confusion.

"No joke!" said Jaden with a glare. "It gets worse. If Chazz attacks and takes out an Ojama, she'll lose 300 life points! Even worse, Chazz can keep doing this, dealing up too 1,800 points in damage!"

"You got that right," said Chazz, uncaring toward Jaden. He then looked at Rose with a smirk. "Because then she will lose the match! And I will win a girlfriend!"

' **No! me and Chazz a couple! I better do something, and fast. No way am I suffering this shit! He does not have my heart!'** thought Rose with her teeth gritted.

"Let's see here. On one hand, I could win this duel right now and win a girlfriend, but what would Chazz having a girlfriend mean if she wasn't really madly in love with me?" declared Chazz as he pointed toward Rose.

" _I agree,"_ said Ojama King.

"Wait!" said Jaden as he threw his hands into his hair in confusion, "so then he's not gonna force Ojama Black into attack mode? He keeps defending?"

" _Look out below, here I come!"_ said Ojama King. Ojama Black attacked him.

"See what a sweat guy I am?" said Chazz as his life points went down to 2,900. "But there's more. Next I play Dramatic Crossroads! It's decision time! Now pay attention!

"Option number one: you discard one random card. Option number two: you show your entire hand to me, and then I'm allowed to take one of your cards for myself!"

"Why would she do that?" asked Syrus in confusion as the others looked on, also confused.

"Because if Rose really loves me, then she'll trust me and let me see her hand," declared Chazz. "She'll give me her very best card as proof of our love! Then she and I will live happily ever after! Ha ha ha! So, make your choice!"

"Chazz! Listen up! You are NEVER going to see my hand, you got it?" said Rose as she looked at Chazz with a straight face.

"I'm shot down?" said Chazz in shock as he fell over.

"You wanna hear who I love?" asked Rose, causing everyone to turn to her.

' **Who?'** thought Jaden with wide eyes.

"I love dueling. I've yet to meet someone who could hold my hear completely," said Rose with a smile.

"Ouch, crash and burn dude!" yelled Atticus as he ran to Chazz.

"Yeah, so what! Don't forget this! If I win, you'll still be mine!" declared Chazz as he stood up.

"Dude, it's over," said Atticus with a smile.

"If you won't love me, then I'll have to defeat you, then you'll have to go out with me!"

' **Then I just can't lose,'** thought Rose as she shuffled her cards at random to pick one to discard. **'I just hope I don't discard the one monster that can get me out of this mess!'**

Rose picked a card and got rid of it. She then drew a new card.

"Alright Chazz, if you really want a wedding, hears your one chance!" declared Rose, Shocking everyone.

"Yeah!?" said Chazz in shock.

"I play the spell Ritual Sanctuary!" said Rose as the field turned into a wedding chapel. "Now by discarding a spell card from my had, I'm able to add any ritual spell from my deck back into my hand! And now I'll play it: Rose Angel Ritual!"

"What the?" said Chazz in shock as the chapel was covered in roses/

"Now any monster with Rose Angel in its name, I can summon."

"No way! No way, you've got no monster zones because of those Ojamas! And you can't get rid of the either!"

"Oh yes I can!" said Rose with a smirk. "Remember, this is a ritual summoning."

"So what? What's that got to do with anything?"

"Everything, because that no sacrifice rule doesn't apply to ritual summoning. The monster that I will be ritual summoning ask for me to sacrifice all three Ojamas, and since they're not being destroyed, I don't lose any pints! But you sure are, Chazz! Now come on out, Rose Angel Benten!"

A women with long red hair tied into a low ponytail, dressed in ninja cloths, came out holding black fans with red roses on them.

"Rose Angel Benten! Attack his Ojama King! Angel Flight Flurry!" said Rose as he monster attacked. She destroyed Ojama King, bring Chazz's life points down to 1,400. "Now for Rose Angel's special effect! You take damage equal to the defense points of the monster that was destroyed in battle! I'm sorry Chazzy."

"That can't be! That will leave the Chazz with nothing!" said Chazz as his life points went down to zero. Rose won the duel as Chazz fell to his knees in the sand.

"She beat me. My darling beat me. So much for true love," said Chazz, sounding as if he would cry. He then stood up and yelled dramatically. "That's fine! For the Chazz always rides alone!"

"Rose! At least you can let him down gently!" said Atticus as he ran toward the girl. Chazz fell back onto his knees and cried. The rest of the group came walked closer to watch.

"Still be friends?" asked Rose with a sweat smile. Chazz was about to say something when an explosion went off scaring everyone.

"What Banner warned us about! It's here!" declared Jaden as smoke came out of the mountain. Everyone watched in shock.


	26. VS Kagemaru Part 1

Episode(s): 48

"What's going on?" asked Jaden as everyone looked toward the mountain. They saw a green light shoot up into the air. The ground rumbled and pillars rose from the ground.

"The sprit keys!" said Chazz as they started to glow from around his neck. "Somethings happen to 'em!"

"Where you going Chazz?" asked Alexis as Chazz got up and started running.

"I don't know!" said Chazz threw gritted teeth as he followed the keys pull.

"Hey, can we come?" asked Jaden in confusion.

"Help me!" yelled Chazz, causing the others to run after him. They ran for a while, until the keys pulled Chazz into the air.

"Just hold on!" yelled Jaden as they tried to catch up to him.

"What do you think I'm-" said Chazz, only to be cut off when he crashed into a branch, cutting the cords that held the keys. They continued flying off, while Chazz fell to the ground.

"Chazz!" yelled Jaden as the group caught up to him. They all looked up to see the keys in the air.

"They keys, they're being absorbed into the pillars," said Zane in observation.

"Not lishus," replied Chumley.

"They're opening up all the spirit gates!" cried out Jaden.

"What did you do Chazz?" said Rose as she picked up said boy by his collar. She looked ready to kill him.

"It's not my fault!" cried out Chazz. Everyone just groaned.

"Children!" yelled out Sheppard as he and Crowler ran to them.

"What's happening?" asked Crowler as they finally made it to them. "I'm sure this is your fault, Jaden."

"Hey, wait. I didn't steal those keys," said Jaden as the group turned to Chazz.

"It was Chazz!" said everyone, pointing to him.

"I was just borrowing the keys, for Rose!" said Chazz with a smile, trying to defuse the situation.

"Don't dare drag me into your big mess," said Rose as she looked away. A few seconds later, the ground began to shake.

"What now?" said Jaden as the group turned to look to the side. They watched as some sort of vault come out. It opened up to show some sort of case. The case lite up, showing the Sacred Beast Cards. The group started to run toward them, when they heard a voice.

"Those cards do not belong to you!" said the voice causing everyone to stop and look up. They looked up to see a cargo plane. The plan opened up and a huge case came out.

"What is that?" asked Jaden in shock to Chazz.

"Yeah, ask me, like I'm gonna know!" said Chazz in annoyance.

"Technically it does make sense to ask a rich kid since they are likely to know what something unique is," said Rose as an afterthought.

The group watched as the case started to fall to the ground, slowed down by parachutes. Once it got close to the ground, it dropped, making a cloud of smoke rise up.

"The cards belong to me!" said the voice. As the smoke cleared up, the group saw a man in some sort of test tube. The test tube being held up by a robotic bottom.

"Wait a moment, I know that man!" said Sheppard as he continued to look, His eyes went wide.

"I'm so glad you recognized me, Sheppard, even though the years have not been kind," said the man.

"It's Kagemaru! Our Superintendent!" said Sheppard in shock, shocking the others as well.

"Superintendent?" asked Jaden.

"I helped built this school, and now I've returned for my Sacred Beast Cards," said Kagemaru.

"Wouldn't they belong to the Kaiba's as this is their school?" questioned Rose with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait just a sec there, test-tube!" said Jaden.

"You want them, you gotta get through us!" declared Chazz as he stood next to Jaden. "That's how this works!"

"Fools! I am Kagemaru, Master of the Shadow Games! It was I who first sealed the cards here. It was I who gave Sheppard the seven keys," said Kagemaru.

"Sheppard?" said Crowler in shock as he looked at his boss.

"Alone they are worthless. To unlock the sprit gates, all that is required is dueling energy. Energy you expend trying to protect those keys," said Kagemaru as the mechanical beast walked forward.

"See? This isn't the Chazz's fault!" said Chazz with his eyes closed.

"Huh?" said Jaden as he looked at his friend. **'Weren't you just dueling Rose?'**

"This is why I arranged for all the best duelists in the world to come here! I hoped year after year, class after class, a student would arise with enough dueling spirit to unlock the power of the cards.

"My Shadow Riders were sent to test you and only one passed. One with the potential to finally unlock the sacred beasts and give me the strength to rule the world!"

"A cute story! So why all the tricks?" asked Alexis, annoyed.

"Yeah, and can ya try to be less dramatic? You sound stupid," said Rose, causing everyone to sweat drop.

"Were you too weak to get the sacred cards for yourself?"

"Girls, don't make the scary man mad," pleaded Syrus to his female friends.

"He don't look so tough," said Chumley. "More like some kinda reject science project."

"Listen up!" said Zane. There is no way you're getting those beast cards. Not so long as I'm here! You got that, Kagemaru? You'll have to duel me for them!"

"Back off! It's my duel!" said Chazz. "And I'll Chazz you up big time! So, let's go!"

"No way! He's all mine!" yelled Atticus as he strummed his ukulele. "After all, he and I are old friends. He transformed me into one of those Shadow Riders."

Alexis sighed with a sweat drop, embarrassed by her brother.

"I don't think anyone can take you seriously right now," said Rose with a sigh.

Bastion was about to say something, when he was cut off.

"No!" said Kagemaru. "My opponent will be . . . Jaden Yuki!"

"Excuse me, what?" asked Jaden, confused.

"You have proven to be the only duelist with the power to unlock the Sacred Beast Cards!"

The group watched in shock as lightning shot out from one of the pillars and connected to another. This went on until they were all connected.

"And if you refuse, I will see to it that this island and everyone on it sinks to the depths of the ocean deep!"

"You can't!" yelled out Jaden in shock.

"I can do anything with these," said Kagemaru as a part of his machinery opened up to show a duel disk and robotic arms. One of which grabbed the Sacred Beast Cards.

"Good luck now," said Chazz. **'He is so screwed. We are all screwed!'**

"Let this shadow game begin!" laughed the crazed old man.

"Listen, Jaden, if you need any advice . . . don't ask," said Chazz as he walked away.

"Where you goin?" asked Jaden as he turned to look at his friend.

"To find a boat," said Chazz as he climbed up to the others. He was about to make it to the top, when Syrus called out.

"Catch!" yelled Syrus as he threw a backpack toward Jaden, only for it to smack Chazz in the face and knock him over. It flew up and Jaden caught it.

"You okay?" asked Jaden as he held the backpack.

"Feeling dandy," said Chazz, sarcastically. "You better not lose. Just got my room looking cool."

"No sweat!" said Jaden with a smile. He then turned to Kagemaru with a glare. "I hope you brought you're A game, Kagemaru!"

' **What's that?'** though Rose as Jaden picked up a card that fell out of Banner's tomb that Jaden had dropped from the backpack.

"Hey Jaden! Rock his world!" yelled Chumley. Jaden turned to him with a smile and got ready to throw the backpack back to him.

"Thanks! Will do! Oh shit!" said Jaden as he threw the backpack, only for it to hit Chazz, again. This time it got him on the back of the head, knocking him forward. "Sorry Chazz! My bad!"

"That does it! I'm out of here!" yelled Chazz in anger as Rose and Alexis tried not to laugh.

"Come on Chazz! I need you!"

"You need a big kick in the –"

"Silence!" yelled Kagemaru as he got ready to duel. "This is why I hate teenagers."

"And this is why teenagers hate you," replied Rose, causing the others to nodded.

"Let's do this!" yelled Jaden as the duel disk activated.

"Jaden, if you lose this, he'll take over the world," said Syrus.

"I think he knows that already Syrus," said Rose with a raised eyebrow.

"In that case, time to get my game on!" yelled Jaden.

"Make your move," said Kagemaru in a mocking voice.

"Alrighty, lets go!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "I summon Burstinatrix in defense mode and one facedown. Now let's see if those beast cards are all that!"

"Yes, let's," chuckled Kagemaru as he drew a card. "I shall begin by placing three trap cards facedown."

"Three trap cards? I think this guys got his circuits crossed," said Chazz.

"What do you mean?" asked Syrus, confused.

"When you lay facedown cards, you never have to say if they're trap cards or spell cards," said Bastion, annoyed he had to explain it.

"Oh yeah, right," said Syrus, embarrassed.

"Unless there is a special circumstance," said Rose, causing the others to turn to her in surprise.

"That is correct, young lady. Especially if you will be summoning a Sacred Beast," said Kagemaru.

"Good. I always wanted to see one up close," said Jaden.

"You should be carful what you ask for," sighed Rose.

"I sacrifice my three trap cards to summon the first sacred beast: Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!"

"What's happening?" asked Rose in shock as lava shot up from the ground.

"Something very bad!" yelled Syrus in fear. Uria, who looked a lot like Slifer, appeared on the field, or more like over it.

"On second thought, maybe I don't need to see it up close," said Jaden in fear.

"Now I activate it's special ability Trap Destruction!" said Kagemaru as the monster destroyed Jaden's trap card. "All traps are useless against my sacred beast and are destroyed. And, if you were curious as to Uria's attack points, he receives 1,000 for trap card in my graveyard."

"And he has three, so 3,000 attack points," said Rose threw gritted teeth.

"Now, reduce Burstinatrix to slag! Hyper Blaze!" said Kagemaru as his monster destroyed Burstinatrix. "Your turn Jaden."

"Turn for what?" asked Zane with a glare. "That monsters to powerful. What can Jaden do?"

"You got this, Jaden," whispered Rose. As if he could hear her, Jaden smirked and drew a card.

"I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman!" said Jaden as he played his card. "And when I call him out all alone, I get to draw two more. Now let's see what kinda cards we got!"

"It's not gonna make a difference, dude," said Atticus, negatively.

"What's Jaden thinking? With Bubble man in attack mode, he's got no defense. He can't beat that monster, anyhow!" said Chazz.

"I can't watch this," said Crowler with fear.

"Why not?" asked Zane with his arms crossed. "This duel might be the last thing we see."

"OW!" yelled Chazz and Atticus as Rose smacked them both on the head.

"You boys need to be more positive! Jaden has a plan. We might not see it, but he has one! Beside, have you guys ever know Jaden to back down from a duel when his friends are at stake? Now the world? Please, he'll win this," said Rose with great confidence. The others looked at her in shock. Zane simply smirked.

"Alright, next I'll play Polymerization!" said Jaden "And I'll fuse my Bubbleman with Elemental Heroes Avian and Sparkman . . . to form Elemental Hero Tempest!"

"He still doesn't have enough attack points to destroy Uria!" said Kagemaru, mockingly.

"Not right now, but that's why I got this to help even the playing field. You know, maybe 'even' isn't exactly right. Check out Skyscraper!" called out Jaden as he played his field card. Buildings formed around the field, making it seem as if they were in the city.

"Imagine if someone saw that monster in the city," said Rose as she noticed Uria floating over the buildings.

"Someone would die of a heart attack," replied Zane, shocking the others with how morbid his thought was.

"More like a couple of people," replied Rose as Jaden explained what his card does.

"Maybe I should have tried to push the two of you together," muttered Atticus.

"Tempest, show him who's boss!" yelled out Jaden as his monster attacked, leaving Kagemaru with 3,200 life points.

"Impressive. I see I made the correct choice in selecting you as my opponent, Jaden Yuki. Your dueling spirit will serve me well, as I rip it from your body and use it to acquire the power of the Sacred Beast Cards!" said Kagemaru in a creepy voice.

"He sounds like he should be kept away from children," said Rose.

"Yes. Children, let this be a lesson that some adults simply can't be trusted," replied Sheppard in a serious voice.

"I call using Zane as a shield if he come toward us!" called out Rose.

"I call Atticus!" said Alexis.

"Why?" asked Atticus.

"Because the two of you are the oldest and I know for a fact Zane can kick ass!" said Rose with a smile as Jaden played a facedown.

"How do you know that?" asked Bastion.

"Secret!" laughed Rose as she went to stand next to Zane, who happened to be smirking. Though that smirked died when Kagemaru brought back Uria.

"Oh fuck," said Chazz in shock.

"He can be resurrected when I discard a trap card to the graveyard," laughed Kagemaru.

"What's worse, with another trap card in his graveyard, it gets 1,000 more points!" called out Zane in anger.

"And if Jaden doesn't do something to get rid of it, he'll be in the graveyard next!" called out Alexis in fear.

Kagemaru then sent his monster to attack Jaden's, which brought Jaden's life points down to 3,800. Luckily, Jaden had a card ready to bring his monster back. He was also able to give it more attack points to take Uria, again. This brought down Kagemaru's life points to 2,900.

"A waste of a turn, Jaden. As long as I have trap cards, my monster can never be destroyed! And now I will use my pot of greed and activate the field spell Fallen Paradise!" said Kagemaru as the card destroyed Jaden's Skyscraper and replaced it with a worn battle ground. "It also allows me to draw two additional cards each round. Which gives me just enough to lay down three spell cards."

"Shit, he's gonna summon another Sacred Beast!" said Rose in anger, causing the others to gasp.

"That is correct. I sacrifice these three spell cards to summon the second sacred beast: Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!"

The group watched as ice formed randomly and grow in size. Eventually it broke to reveal a monster with a similar appearance to Ra.

"Look!" said Zane in shock.

"We see it," said Chazz, sarcastically.

"Now about that boat," said Bastion.

"Hamon, attack. Let's show his Tempest a real storm!" said Kagemaru, causing his monster to attack.

"Tempest! No!" yelled Jaden as his life point went down to 2,600.

"And with Hamon's special ability, should he destroy a monster, you suffer an additional 1,000 points in damage!" laughed Kagemaru. "Oh, don't worry. It wont hurt . . .me!"

"AH!" screamed Jaden as he was attacked directly. His life points went down to 1,600.

"What's going on?" asked Chazz in shock as he looked at his deck. Everyone then took out there own decks to look at them in shock.

"All my cards are fading!" said Alexis in fear.

"Mine too," said Chumley.

"Our monsters," said Bastion in wonder.

"They're all disappearing," said Syrus in fear.

"Of course," said Kagemaru in a condescending voice. "The sacred beast draw their strength from dueling spirits. But not merely from the players they absorb energy from the very cards themselves!"

"That's why they were locked away!" said Zane as he held his cards. "These beast have the power to destroy every card on the planet."

"Impossible," said Crowler in fear.

"Bummer," said Chumley.

"No, this can't be happening," cried out Syrus.

"But hold on! Jaden's cards aren't affected!" said Bastion.

"Jaden's dueling spirit is beyond all of yours," said Kagemaru. "Time and time again, he has proven the courage and heart to win, no matter what the odds. It is this force alone that can tame the sacred beasts and harness their awesome power!"

"So that's why you want me!" said Jaden through gritted teeth.

"Yes. Once this shadow game ends and you lay defeated, I shall take your spirit. Finally, I will have the power to become the new master of the Sacred Beasts! Then, they will absorb the energy of every duelist and deck across the planet, giving me enough strength to rule the world!"

"Hold on! My cards are okay!" said Rose as she showed her cards to everyone. They looked somewhat weaker, but where still there.

"Ah, yes. Miss Rose Heartfilia has a strong dueling spirit. Though she has only lost a few times, it was not without her trying her absolute best. You've never given up and have worked hard to get to where you are now. Truly a great duelist in your own right. Once I defeated Jaden, if your cards are still around, I'll defeat you as well!

"Allow me to demonstrate a mere fraction of their power!" said Kagemaru as his body started to get younger. The test tube broke and he jumped out, shocking everyone.

"He's been reborn!" said Sheppard in shock.

"I doubt it! It's all for show!" said Jaden.

"Is this for show?" asked Kagemaru as he picked up his machine and threw it into the air. "Ha! I like this new body, but something is still missing. Oh, I know! It's your soul Jaden! So now lets finish this duel!"


	27. VS Kagemaru Part 2

Episode(s): 49

"Daunting, isn't it? Fear not. My Sacred Beasts will end this for you soon," said Kagemaru with a taunting smirk.

"We'll just see about that. My turn!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "And I summon a duelist's best friend, go, Wroughtweiler! Good boy, just heal for now."

"I don't know how I feel about him making jokes at a time like this," sighed Rose with a found smile. Alexis laughed.

"Next I'll throw down a facedown."

"A facedown and a duel doggy. That's your big move?" laughed Kagemaru. "That's how you plan to stop my two sacred beasts? Please, don't insult them. After all, it's these monsters that will soon empower me to rule the world!

"Now then, where were we?" he said as he drew a card. "Ah, yes, due to the effect of my field spell, I can get two extra cards. And next I'm going to wage an attack with Hamon, go, Cerulean Skyfire!

"And now," he continued as Jaden's monster was destroyed, "and now I activate Hamon's special affect. You see, when he destroys a monster, he also deals 1,000 damage points, straight to you, Jaden!"

"Hang on Jay!" yelled Syrus as his friend was attacked. The attack shot Jaden up into the air and pushed him back. Once he fell, he got back up, his life points going down to 600.

"Jaden!" yelled Rose in fear for her friend.

"Nice special effects, but I got one too, my Wroughtweiler! It activates when he's sent to the graveyard, now I can add one Elemental Hero and one Polymerization from my grave, to my hand, and the hero I'm picking is Bubbleman!" said Jaden as he ran back to the fields.

"Ha! To bad you won't ever get the chance to summon him," laughed Kagemaru.

"We'll see about that. Now finish your turn!"

"Fine, but it's not just my turn that's about to be finished. It's you as well, Jaden. Attack, Urai! Hyper Blaze!"

"It's all over!" yelled Sheppard in fear.

"We're done for!" said Bastion.

"Jaden, no!" cried Syrus.

"You can still win this Jaden! I believe in you!" yelled Rose. **'You have to win this, for everyone!'**

"Not so fast! I play my spell card Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! It lets me summon Winged Kuriboh from my deck!" said Jaden, saving himself.

"Pure luck," said Kagemaru in annoyance.

"Nah, that's pure Kuriboh!" said Jaden as he started to talk about how Banner must have given him a card to help him win.

"He was a pawn. Like you are. And I will prove it once I win your soul!"

"That's why I won't let you win! I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman! And since he's alone, I can draw two more cards. And now I'll play one of them – the spell card Metamorphosis! Now I can sacrifice my Bubbleman to summon up a fusion monster that's the same level as he is, such as Elemental Hero Neo Bubbleman!"

"What is he planning?" asked Crowler as Jaden attacked Hamon.

"That wont make a difference! Hamon, strike back!" called Kagemaru. He was shocked with Hamon was destroyed. "What?"

"It's Neo Bubbleman's special ability. When he battles with a monster, that monster is destroyed," explained Jaden.

"But he was stronger, so you should still take damage!" yelled Kagemaru.

"Someone's ready to throw a tantrum," scoffed Rose, causing Zane and Atticus to chuckle.

"Should've, would've, could've. Sorry, but by just destroying Bubble Blaster, all damage you would have done becomes zero," said Jaden.

"Nice move," complemented Sheppard.

"Good job, Jaden!" said Rose with a smile. Jaden smirked.

"Next, I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn."

"Your last turn," called Kagemaru as he got three cards, "Urai, attack!"

"Do your stuff, Bubble Illusion! With this I can play a trap card directly from my hand. And I'll play this one: Hero Rule One, Five Freedom. Five traps now leave the graveyard!"

"They what!?"

"That's right! Removed from the game! So, go ahead and say your final goodbyes!"

"Well done. With those traps now gone Urai's attack points will go down dramatically," said Bastion with a smile.

"Yeah, 1,000 per trap card," said Chazz with a smirk, "which means Urai's new attack points will be-"

"Zero, nothing, a big fat goose egg," said Crowler with a smile.

"Alright, now Neo Bubbleman has got the edge in this fight, So go! Let him have it!" said Jaden as his monster attacked. Kagemaru's life points went down to 2,100.

"You're only postponing the inevitable!" yelled an angered Kagemaru. "You can't stop the beasts, especially with this! I play Resurrection Tribute. Since one of my monsters was destroyed, that means I can destroy one of yours! That means that Bubbleman will now burst!

"But there's more Jaden! Now I get to summon back a monster from my grave to the field in defense mode. So, rise again, Hamon! And by discarding a trap from my had, Urai resurrects!"

"Oh great," whined Jaden.

"Not again," said Rose in anger as she watched.

"And then I'll activate the spell Phantasmal Martyrs! When Urai and Hamon are both out, I can send two cards in my hand to the graveyard and then I can summon three of these; Phantasmal Martyr Tokens!"

"And Urai's points increase to 2,000," said Bastion threw gritted teeth.

"Just like that, my two beast are out again," smirked Kagemaru. "It's like your back where you started, except your not. I'm sacrificing my tokens and summoning my last Sacred Beast. So, you see, things are not the same. They're much, much worse!"

Everyone covered their eyes as a bright light shown on the field.

"Behold Raviel, Lord of Phantasms!"

"Okay, definitely not friendly," said Jaden, trying to lighten the mode.

"Not good. He's gathered all three of them out at once," said Zane with narrowed eyes. Kagemaru laughed.

"Yes! Come to me! Come to me! Come to me!" yelled Kagemaru as he started to glow.

"That's freaky," commented Jaden.

"Oh my! It's as if Kagemaru is somehow absorbing duel monsters and using their energies," said Sheppard in shock.

"That's not in the rules," complained Crowler.

"I don't think this guy cares about any rules," commented Rose.

"The spirits sense you're close to defeat. Already they're surrendering themselves to me, yielding to me their might so that I can free the three sacred beasts and rule the world with a new life that will be eternal," said Kagemaru with a crazy smirk.

"So, if Jaden loses this," started Chazz with a glare.

"Every duel spirit out there will be sucked up," finished Zane as he glared.

"Sorry, Kagemaru, but there is no way I'm letting you do that to my friends!" declared Jaden.

"Spirits aren't for being friends with. They're for using to get what you want. And right now, I'm going to use them Jaden, to destroy you!" declared Kagemaru.

"That's not true! Spirits have their rights! And you will pay for what you are doing to them!" yelled Rose in anger. **'My friends don't deserve to suffer like this!'**

"Time to step up. My draw," said Jaden as he drew a card. "I play the spell card Dark Factory of Mass Production. So now I can take two monsters from my graveyard and add them straight to my hand, and the ones that I'm picking are Burstinatrix and Avian!

"And next, I'm gonna play this: Polymerization, to create the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

"Very well, but now Raviel's special ability activates. You see, when you summon a monster, I get to summon a Sacred Beast Token," said Kagemaru.

"Jaden, Jaden!" said a voice. The group turned to see Pharaoh chasing a ball of light.

"Is that Banner?" whispered Rose to her friends.

"Not now Pharaoh!" said the voice.

"It is," said the students. The ball of light went toward Jaden and started to talk to him, only to be cut off my Pharaoh, who ate him.

"And there he goes," said Rose with a sigh.. Jaden's life points then went down to 300. "What happened?"

"I'm activating the spell card Fusion Recovery!" said Jaden.

"So, what, that won't change a thing!" called out Chazz.

"It could! It all just depends on how he plays it," said Rose.

"Now Polymerization and Sparkman return to my hand from the graveyard. Next, I'll activate Polymerization, and that means the Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman is created!" said Jaden as he got an even stronger monster.

"Then I get another token," said Kagemaru, uncaring.

"Cool, because I get something, too – 300 attack points for Flare Wingman for each hero that I have in my graveyard, and right now there's a total of seven!"

"That can't be! 4,600 points!" cried out Kagemaru in shock.

"That's right! And he's got a special ability to boot! You see when Flare Wingman destroys a monster in battle, he deals damage to you directly, equal to that destroyed monster attack points."

"Wait, so-"

"So, go and get him, Shining Flare Wingman! Shining Emerald Orb!" called out Jaden as his monster destroyed Hamon. "And now Wingman, light up Kagemaru with your special ability!"

"He's got this!" said Rose in happiness.

"Or not," said Chazz.

"A good try, but if Hamon is destroyed while in defense mode, all damage to me becomes Zero," said Kagemaru with a smirk.

"Okay, I'll throw down a facedown, and end my turn," said Jaden as his life points went down to 150.

"And I'll begin mine. I switch Urai from defense mode to attack mode. Then I'll play Raviel's effect. By sacrificing two monsters on my field, for this turn only, I can and their attack points to Raviel's."

"So that's why he summoned those tokens, to power up Raviel and power down Jaden," said Bastion.

"Go Raviel! Clean your claws with that Shining Flare Wingman!"

"I play a facedown, De-Fusion!" said Jaden as his monster split into two.

"Very well, but De-Fusion counts as two summoning's, which means to tokens. Now Raviel, go on and destroy the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman with Shivering Scrapper. And now Urai will finish off the other one, Hyper Blaze!"

"I summon Elemental Hero Clayman!"

"Another beast token for me!"

"I play Miracle Fusion! With this, I can take monsters from my field and grave and combine them to create a fusion monster. So, I remove the Bubbleman, Avian, and Burstinatrix that are in my graveyard and the Clayman that's on the field to summon Elemental hero Electrum!

"Alright, next I play, Sabatiel the Philosopher Stone! And it says here, that when it's equipped onto Electrum, his attack points are multiplied by the number of monster that you have on your field, and that would be five! So, Electrum's attack points are now-"

"14,500!" said Kagemaru in shock.

"Yes! You got this Jaden!" yelled out Rose with an excited smile.

"It's over. Now go, Hero Electrum! Seal his fate!" said Jaden as his monster attacked and destroyed the monsters.

"Impossible! The Sacred Beasts can't be defeated. No!" yelled out Kagemaru as his life points went down to zero.

The group watched as monster spirits flew out of Kagemaru and went back to where they had come from.

"You're back," said Chazz with a smile, though that smile quickly vanished when Ojama Yellow started to annoy him. Rose giggled as Rose Guardian appeared next to her.

"What's happening to Kagemaru?" asked Alexis in shock as the man glowed blue and then started to scream.

"Dear me," said Sheppard in shock.

"Look at him," yelled Bastion, Chumley, and Syrus.

"It's true, I'm an old man. Wanting simply what every old man wants, to be young again, and harnessing the power of those Sacred Beasts, that was the only way I found to do it," said Kagemaru as Jaden walked toward him.

"Yeah, and take over the world," said Jaden sassily.

"Can't you forgive a decerped old soul and his delusions of grandeur?"

"Yeah, I guess, but don't you see, old-timer – stealing power from something or someone isn't anyway to feel alive again. You've got to find the strength in yourself."

"I can't! It's too late for that!" cried Kagemaru as he held onto Jaden.

"Okay, now I feel somewhat bad," whispered Rose to the others who nodded.

"It's never to late. Come one. Try and get up. Right now, just go for it. Give it your all!" said Jaden as Kagemaru used him to stand.

"Hey, look, I'm standing!" said Kagemaru with surprise. He then smiled and looked at Jaden who nodded. "It must have been our duel. Yes, that's it. All the excitement but the spring back in my step. Thank you!"

"Jaden! Don't hug him! You're gonna hurt him!" yelled Rose when she noticed her friend bear hugging the old man.

"Right! Sorry!" yelled Jaden in return with a sheepish smile.

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"I guess old people and bear hugs don't go together," laughed Jaden sheepishly.

"Hey, you may of bruised some of his ribs, but I'm sure his heart is all healed!" said Atticus encouragingly. Chazz scoffed.

"Some bruised ribs? He's lucky that's all he's got after everything he's put us through," he said, annoyed.

"Later Kagemaru!" said Jaden with a smile as he waved.

"Get well soon, I guess," said Syrus, unsure of what he should be saying.

"It's over. From now on the Sacred Beasts will be under my guard and mine alone," said Sheppard as he put the cards away.

"Sure, is gonna be quite around here now," said Syrus.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure. You see, next week are the Duel Academy's Promotion Exams," said Crowler with a smirk.

"Promotion Exams!" yelled out Jaden in shock and fear.

"Yes."

"I totally forgot!" cried Jaden as he kneeled on the ground.

"Pathetic," said Chazz as Atticus played his ukulele. Zane looked somewhat confused by Jaden's reaction.

"Saving the world is one thing but making the grade?" asked Atticus with a smile.

"Not really Jaden's cup of tea," said Bastion with a smile.

"That's true," laughed Alexis.

"Better get studding!" laughed Rose.

"Rose! Help me!" yelled Jaden as he tackled the girl, knocking her to ground.

"Hey! Get off of me!" yelled Rose as Jaden held her around the waste.

"Looks like you have a study buddy Rose," said Zane with a smirk.

"Wait! I need help too!" yelled Syrus as he turned to his brother. "Zane! Help me!"

"No," said Zane as he held his left hand out onto his brother's head to hold him back. Everyone else laughed.


	28. VS Zane

Episode(s): 50 (Mentioned) 51 – 52

"So, if Chumley beats Crowler in a duel, he gets to go and work for Industrial Illusion!" said Rose in shock as Jaden and Syrus told her and Alexis.

"Yeah! Are you guys coming to see?" asked Syrus.

"Of course!" said Alexis.

"Sorry guys, I can't. I promised to help Zane with some things," said Rose with an apologetic smile.

"What are you helping him with?" asked Jaden with a serious look.

"That's a secret!" smiled Rose with a winky face. She then walked away while waving at the group. "Tell Chumley that I believe in him!"

"See you later!" yelled Syrus.

' **Now to see what Zane wants that's so important,'** thought Rose as she walked to the Obelisk Blue dorms.

 _ **~At The Obelisk Blue Dorms~**_

"Zane?" Rose said as she neared said boy.

"Rose," replied Zane as he turned to look at her. "Follow me."

"Um, okay?" said Rose as she followed him to his dorm. "Is something wrong?"

"I got the best scores in the graduating class."

"That sounds like a good thing," giggled Rose. Zane smirked.

"It is, but now I have a problem. You see, the person who scores the highest in the graduating class gets to duel one person of their choosing at the graduation ceremony. I have duel everyone who is the best."

"So now you don't know who to duel?" asked Rose, confused. **'Is he going to ask me to duel him?'**

"There are only one people I want to duel. Jaden," said Zane as he looked at her.

"I understand, but why come to me?" asked Rose in shock.

"You are one of the best duelist in your class, besides Jaden. You are the top of your class, so I want to know your opinion on this matter."

"In all honesty, I don't think my opinion should matter at all," said Rose with a smile, shocking Zane.

"What do you mean?"

"If you really want to duel Jaden, then you should do it. It's what your heart and gut is telling you. You want a duel to remember. It's the reason you didn't choose me. I always practice duel with you. You've only ever dueled Jaden once. Yeah, you may of won, but you felt something in that duel. That's why you want to duel him."

"Hm. I can always count on you to say things as they are," said Zane with a smirk.

"Duh!" said Rose with a laugh. "Now come on! I want to see Chumley off!"

"Where's he going?" asked Zane, confused.

"He was offered a job at Industrial Illusions! If he beats Crowler, he can go!" said Rose with excitement.

"Is that so. That's good for him," said Zane with a soft smile.

"I know! Now let's go! Even if we miss the duel, we can still send him off!"

"You are so sure he's going to win?" asked Zane as the two left his room.

"I'm sure he's going to pass," she replied with a smirk. Zane smirked pass.

"Yes. You don't always have to win to pass."

 _ **~Two Days Later, Graduation Match~**_

The group of friends sat in the stadium as they looked at the arena.

"It's about to start!" said Syrus in fear and excitement. He sat in between Alexis, who was on his left, and Bastion, who was on his right. To Bastion's right was Rose. And to her right was Chazz. Atticus sat behind Syrus.

"Yeah," said Alexis.

"To bad Chumley couldn't be here to cheer Jaden on," said Bastion.

"He's in a better place," replied Rose.

"The two of you make it seem like he died," chuckled Chazz.

"Zane and Jaden dueling it out in the last throwdown of the year – man, who can ask for a better match?" asked Atticus.

"A mismatch," said Bastion as he pulled out his device. "According to my figures, Zane's quite the favorite."

"Something you can't figure," said Alexis with a laugh.

"Here they come," said Rose as Jaden and Zane walked into the arena and toward the field.

"Jaden looks serious," said Syrus. "That's gotta be a first!"

"I wonder if he's nervous," wondered Alexis.

"Well, he aught ta be," replied Bastion.

"Yeah, I agree. It's Zane's big day and he's gonna duel big," said Atticus.

"Why do I have a feeling that this isn't going to go the way we think?" wondered Rose outload.

"If you mean he's going to lose. We all know that's going to happen," said Chazz sassily.

The group watched as the two met in the middle and shook hands. A few seconds later, Rose's phone rang.

"Who's calling you?" asked Atticus as he leaned over her.

"My mom?" said Rose in shock. She then got up. "I'm sorry guys. I have to take this."

"It's fine!" said Alexis with a smile as Jaden and Zane took their places.

"We'll tell you want happened for the parts you missed," said Syrus with a smile.

"Thanks!" said Rose as she moved past her friends and out of the stadium. She ran till she got out of the building. Once outside, she called her mother back.

"Hello?" said Emma Heartfilia as she answered her phone.

"You called me mom?" asked Rose.

"Oh Rose! I'm so glad you called back! I forgot about that duel you were watching," said Emma.

"It's fine mom, my friends can fill me in on what I missed later."

"I need to talk to you about something important. You know how I've been working on a new fashion line."

"Yeah? What about it?" asked a confused Rose.

"Well, it turns out that I have a collaboration with a well-known duelist, and you wont believe who it is!"

"Who?" asked Rose, curious and excited. **'No way it is who I'm thinking about.'**

"Lilly Kaiba!"

"No way!" screamed Rose in excitement.

"Yes way!" screamed Emma back. "Not only that, but she wants you to model for the collection!"

"AHH!" screamed Rose in pure happiness as her mother laughed. 'My idol wants ME to model for her collection! I'm so excited!'

"She said she met you the day before you took the entrance exams and thought you were a great person. She found out who you were and just had to make a collaboration with me when she realized my collections where inspired by you!

"I'm so proud of you, baby girl. Simply by being nice, by being yourself, you managed to impress her in such a way that she couldn't ignore. You are becoming such a wonderful young lady. Your father would have been so proud of you!"

"You think so?" asked Rose with a sad smile.

"I know so. He loved dueling. He may have never been a big shot, but he loved it. He was passionate about it and the bonds he formed by dueling. I see a lot of that in you."

"Mom," said Rose with slight tears in her eyes. Emma sniffled.

"Now, don't stay on the phone with me. I hear you have a friend to cheer on! Now go!"

"Right! Love you mom!"

"Love you too, dear!"

With that, Rose hung up and looked up into the sky. She smiled.

"I really do hope your proud of me dad," she said as a tear fell down her cheek. She wiped it away and ran back into the stadium.

"Hey guys! What did I miss?" asked Rose as she took her seat.

"Jaden's losing, big time," replied Chazz.

"It seems Jaden tried to change the way he duels. He thought that by going with his head instead of his instincts that it would be better," informed Bastion.

"Really?" asked Rose, shocked.

"Yeah! Who would of that he could think so much," snickered Atticus good naturedly.

"It's my turn! And I summon Cyber Kirin! And if I should happen to sacrifice him, all card effect damage goes to zero for this turn," said Zane, pulling the groups attention to the duel. "And of course, that means my Power Bond Damage is negated."

"A flawless play!" praised Bastion.

"Yeah, totally!" agreed Atticus.

"Come one! Where's the Jaden who almost beat me before?" asked Zane.

"He's right here. I think. I don't know," replied Jaden.

"Oh Jaden," said Rose in concern.

"Of course, you don't," replied Zane. "Because your heart is not in this."

A growl was then heard.

"And neither is my stomach," replied Jaden as he sat on the ground. "Kinda skipped lunch."

"Dorothy! You around!?" called out Jaden, looking for the older women. Once he spotted her, he smiled. "Hey there! How 'bout some grub?"

"Okay! You got it!" yelled Dorothy as she and her assistant ran to make food for Jaden.

"What's he doing?" yelled Alexis. "Having a snack?"

"They say the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach," replied Atticus with a laugh.

"JADEN! WHAT HAPPEN TO THE FOOD I GAVE YOU!" yelled a pissed off Rose, scaring Chazz and Bastion. As well as Jaden who looked ready to use Zane as a shield. For his part, Zane simply looked away.

' **He's gonna leave me to her!?'** thought Jaden in fear.

' **I'm not getting on her bad side,'** thought Zane.

"I, uh, kind of dropped it," said Jaden as he scratched his head.

"Now, Rose, if you kill Jaden now, we won't be able to watch the match," said Bastion with a sweat drop as he grabbed her by the shoulders and sat her down.

"Yeah, besides, to many witnesses for a murder," said Chazz as he looked around.

"You know, if she keeps acting like that, I can hold her," said Atticus as he neared the three.

"Atticus, sit," said Zane from where he stood. Though he didn't look at Atticus directly, the small side eye he was giving him was enough to scare him to his sister.

"At least he's being himself now," said Syrus with a smile.

"Sy's right! I wasn't being me. And what better way to be me then with a big meal!" laughed Jaden. "So how about it Zane, do you mind if I scarf?"

"Why not?" said Zane with a smirk. It was easy to tell he was amused.

"Great answer."

 _ **~A Few Minutes Later~**_

"Guys, they brought everything," said Chazz in shock as they watched the two ladies set up a table with several plates.

"Crazy," said Atticus with a laugh.

"That idiot," said Rose with a fond smile.

"But he's our idiot," said Bastion with a smirk.

"Yeah," said the group with a laugh.

"Looks like he's done!" said Syrus as Jaden stood up.

"Now then!" said Jaden with a smile.

"Bring it!" replied Zane with a smirk.

"Here goes!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "I play pot of greed! And then play one of my two cards: Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode. And here's the other. The spell card Spy Hero. It's activated when I discard two random cards from my deck. Now my spy hero cuts in and uses all his super stealth to take one of your spell cards!"

"Seems the old Jaden's back," said Zane with a smirk, only to be shocked by the spy taking a card from him and sending it to Jaden.

"Thanks Zane! Future Fusion! Now all I've got to do is sacrifice a couple of monsters that could be combined to form a fusion monster and bam – I get what they could of made. So, say goodbye to Burstinatrix and Clayman and hello to Rampart Blaster in defense mode! Next I'll throw down a couple of facedowns!"

"Impressive, but too little too late," said Zane with a smirk and drew a card. "I summon forth Cyber Phoenix in attack mode! With Phoenix on the field, any spells or traps targeting a certain monster are destroyed! Which means their effect gets cancelled out. See where I'm going with this Jaden?"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it, Zane," said Jaden, annoyed. "They Cyber End Dragon. I can't mess with it with trap or spell cards anymore."

"Will Jaden hurry up and lose already?" asked Chazz in annoyance.

"This is a tough spot. What to do?" asked Bastion.

"Your boyfriend's not doing so well," said Atticus to Rose.

"Jaden's a friend who happens to be a boy, it doesn't make him a boyfriend," replied Rose in annoyance.

"I'm sorry. I should of said that your boyfriend is beating your other boyfriend," laughed Atticus, thinking he won. Rose smirked.

"Yes, well, they are trying to fight for lead in my harem. Bastion and Chazz are next," said Rose, shocking her friends. Thought Bastion quickly went along with it.

"Yes. Lead boy gets to stay with her on the weekends. I would like to add that to my Monday and Thursday," replied Bastion with a smirk. He was trying not to laugh.

"Wait! You get two days? I have to share Tuesday with Jaden. Though Friday is all mine," said Chazz. He saw the look on Atticus' face and had to go along.

"Zane has Saturday and Wednesday. Jaden has Sunday," said Rose.

Atticus, Alexis, and Syrus looked at the three in shock. The other three laughed.

"So, telling Zane and Jaden this later," laughed Rose as the other two nodded.

"I'm glad you got to enjoy your lunch. But now, just try not to lose it!" said Zane. "Cyber End Dragon, attack Rampart Blaster!"

"I activate my spell De-Fusion!" said Jaden.

"Sorry Jaden, Cyber End Dragon can't be split. Cyber Phoenix is protecting him, remember?"

"I'm not going after him! I'm defusin one of mine! By splitting Rampart Blaster, I get two monster and you get no target!"

"Alright! Now that's a line up!" said Syrus. "Jaden's got four Elemental Heroes!"

"Unless!" said Zane with wide eyes.

"Unless I'm not attackin', I'm sacrificin'! And you will see why when I play this! One dozy of a trap card. Here comes Elemental Burst!" said Jaden.

"Oh no," said Zane.

"Oh yeah! Now by sacrificing an earth, water, fire, and wind attribute monster, each and every card on your field gets totally destroyed!"

Everyone gasped in shock of the move as Zane's monsters were destroyed.

"So long Cyber End Dragon. I can't really say that I'm going to miss him."

"You wont have to miss him, because by destroying Cyber Phoenix, I get to move one card from my deck to my had. Don't you see? The way that I've calibrated my deck, Cyber Dragon's never gone long! I'll always find a way to bring him back."

"You're bluffing!"

"But I'm not, Jaden. Because the card I picked was this one: a spell called Time Fusion! And with it, time is most certainly on my side."

"And how is that exactly?"

"Because now, by removing one card in my hand from the game, it activates. Meaning I can automatically call up a fusion monster to my field next turn without having to wait for a single summoning requirement! You can't win! And in just one turn, you'll see why! And the Academy will see you're a fraud!

"Don't feel bad, Jaden. You lost to the best."

"Already writing your graduation speech, Zane?" asked Jaden. "Not so fast, I'm still here."

"Oh please. Not for very much longer," said Chazz.

"Perhaps," replied Bastion.

"He needs one good draw!" said Syrus.

"Yup," said Atticus with a nod.

"Come on Jaden," said Alexis. "Try and hang in there."

"You got this Jaden! I believe in you!" said Rose with a smile. Jaden turned to her and smirked. He then turned back to the field.

"Alright, my turn!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "And I'll throw down a facedown."

"Brace yourself. My turn!" said Zane as he drew a card. "First off, this returns to me A Card From A Different Dimension. I removed it from plat to activate Time Fusion, but now it's back! And it doesn't stop there!

"Next it's special effect activates, and you know what that means. We both get to draw two more cards! And now, I call forth Cyber End Dragon!"

"Not again!" cried out Syrus.

"You'd think for once that Zane would try a combo without that dragon," said Alexis.

"Hey, if it ain't broke," said Atticus with a laugh.

"Of course, because the monster was summoned with Time Fusion, it can't attack until next turn," informed Bastion.

"Next turn?" asked Chazz in annoyance. "Man, how long do I have to wait to see Jaden Lose!?"

"You're gonna have to keep waiting," replied Rose as she watched the duel.

"And I'll finish my turn by laying one facedown," said Zane, finishing his move..

"My draw!" said Jaden as he drew a card. "I activate Fusion Recovery! This brings back Polymerization and Burstinatrix from the graveyard. Sorry, Zane, but you're not the only one who can re-summon a monster!

"Next I'll activate Miracle Fusion! Now I just remove Avian and Burstinatrix from play and I can summon the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! But wait! I'm not done yet! Go Polymerization! Merge the Sparkman with Flame Wingman to create the Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!

"And here's the cherry on top. For each Elemental Hero that I got chillin' in the graveyard, Wingman gets 300 attack points. Now let's count off! Hero role call!

"Alright! Now attack Cyber End Dragon, Flare Wingman!" said Jaden, bring Zane's life points to 1,100. "Oh, yeah! But Flare Wingman's not done yet! 'Cuz when he destroys a monster, then you take damage equal to that monster's attack points! And that's 4,000!"

"Shit!" said Chazz in shock.

"Schools out, Zane," said Jaden with a smirk.

"Not yet, it's not!" said Zane as he revealed a card. "I activate a trap card! Damage Polyerizer! Now all damage from a special effect gets reduced to zero!"

"Well, I gotta hand it to ya, Zane, that's a sweet card!"

"And as the 'cherry on top,' we now draw one card each. And for your sake, Jaden, I hope it's a good one."

"I'll just throw down a facedown and call it a turn," said Jaden after he drew a card. "I guess you're up. So, what will it be this time?"

"You'll see."

"Well, whatever it is, good luck, 'cuz something just tells me this is the last round!"

"I agree. Alright! Now, my turn!" said Zane as he drew a card and smiled.

"I don't like that smile," said Syrus.

"Especially since Zane never smiles," said Alexis. "Something's up here."

"Yeah, that's for sure," laughed Atticus, "and I think we're gonna see just what exactly it is really soon! Get set for the final round between this school's two best duelists!"

"Imagine, if he would smile more often, he would have even more fan girls," said Rose with a laugh.

"But Rosy! If that happened then I would have none!" complained Atticus playfully.

"Jaden, it's been fun," said Zane with a smirk/smile, "but now I'm afraid that it's over. I activate Power Bond. So now, by sacrificing the right monsters, I can once again summon Cyber End Dragon!"

"But how? You gotta have monster to sacrifice them!" said Chazz at the end of his seat.

"Chazz is right for once," said Bastion. "His field is bare."

"I'm sorry, I forgot., I don't need monsters! I activate Cybernetic Fusion Support!" said Zane, his life points going down to 550. "By trading half of my life points, I don't need to make any sacrifices to summon my fusion monster! So, without further ado, let's welcome back Cyber End Dragon!

"And thanks to Power Bond, it's attack points double. And next I'll activate this: Limiter Removal!"

"Trouble!" said Chazz in a sing song voice.

"Very sever trouble," said Bastion in shock.

"All coming for Jaden," said Rose in shock.

"Thanks to this, all machine type monster out get their attack points doubled, and guess what type my dragon is? You're though!" said Zane.

"Don't think so!" called back Jaden as he reveal his facedown. "Go, Battle Fusion! If used during a battle, my monster gains as many attack points as triple-chrome dome over there!"

"Nice move, but it's all for naught. I use the spell card Battle Fusion! That's right, Jaden! I have one too!"

"Uh-oh," said Jaden. He then smiled. "Wow Zane, you really are great."

"What are they saying?" asked Syrus as he leaned in.

"Who knows," said Rose as she looked at Alexis who pulled him back.

"This duel isn't done yet!" yelled at Jaden, shocking everyone. "I still have one trick up my sleeve! Oh yeah, and here it comes! I'm activating the trap known as Final Fusion!"

"How clever," said Zane with a smile.

"If this cards played, the both of us take damage to our life points equal to our monsters combined attack points! And you know what that means!"

"Sure do!"

Everyone screamed as an explosion went off.

"Hey, what happened?" asked Chazz in shock.

"Who won?" asked Bastion as he looked at Rose on his right. She had grabbed onto him in shock.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. He just smiled reassuringly at her.

"Aw, man," said Syrus. He has somehow landed on his back.

Everyone saw as both duelists lost all their life points, resulting in a draw. Everyone then stood up and started clapping.

Jaden was on his back and Zane walked up to him. Jaden then sat up and the two clapped hands, only to fall over laughing.

' **Till next semester,'** thought Rose with a smile.


End file.
